Loss does weird things to the brain. Seriously. When Arie Posin released The Face of Love movie back in 2013, critics didn't really know where to put it. Was it a psychological thriller? A creepy stalker flick? Or just a devastatingly honest look at how we process the death of a soulmate? Honestly, it’s a bit of everything. It stars Annette Bening as Nikki, a woman who, five years after her husband’s drowning, spots a man in a museum who looks exactly like him.
Like, exactly.
That man is Tom, played by Ed Harris. What follows isn't your typical Hollywood "meet-cute." It’s a messy, ethically questionable descent into a romance built on a ghost. If you haven't seen it, the premise sounds like something out of a Hitchcock film, but the execution is much more grounded in the quiet, suffocating reality of long-term mourning. It asks a question most of us are too scared to answer: If you could date a carbon copy of your dead spouse, would you?
The Psychological Weight of the Face of Love Movie
The film hinges entirely on Annette Bening’s performance. She’s frantic. She’s revitalized. She’s also kind of losing her mind. When Nikki starts dating Tom, she doesn't tell him why she’s so attracted to him. She hides the photos of her late husband, Garrett. She keeps him away from her daughter, Summer—played by a very skeptical Greta Gerwig—because she knows deep down that what she’s doing is bordering on pathological.
Psychologists call this "searching behavior." It’s a real thing. People who lose a loved one often report seeing their face in a crowd or hearing their voice in a hallway. Most of the time, it's a momentary glitch in the brain. But in The Face of Love movie, the glitch becomes a living, breathing person.
The tension doesn't come from jump scares. It comes from the dinner parties. It comes from the moments where Tom tries to be his own person, unaware that he’s essentially being cast in a one-man play he didn't audition for. Ed Harris plays the "doppelgänger" with this tragic lightness. He’s a lonely art teacher who thinks he’s finally found the love of his life, completely oblivious to the fact that he’s just a human band-aid for a gaping wound.
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Why Critics Were Split
The reviews were all over the place when this landed at TIFF. Some people found the "double" trope too "Lifetime Movie" for their tastes. Others, however, realized that the script—co-written by Posin and Matthew McDuffie—was actually inspired by a real-life encounter Posin’s mother had. She saw a man who looked just like her late husband on the street and followed him for blocks. That’s the core of the story. It's about that desperate, primal urge to get back what the universe took from you.
Critics like Rotten Tomatoes’ aggregate score usually hover in the middle because the movie refuses to be an easy watch. It’s uncomfortable. Watching Nikki dress Tom in her late husband’s clothes or take him to the same vacation spots in Mexico isn't "romantic" in the traditional sense. It’s a slow-motion car crash of the heart.
Realism vs. Melodrama: The Harris and Bening Dynamic
Let’s talk about Ed Harris for a second. The guy is a powerhouse. Playing two roles—the dead husband Garrett and the new suitor Tom—requires a subtlety that most actors would overcook. He manages to make them feel like different people despite the identical face. Garrett is seen in brief, golden-hued flashbacks, a man who was clearly adored. Tom, on the other hand, is a bit more worn down, a bit more vulnerable.
Annette Bening is the anchor. You’ve probably seen her in American Beauty or The Kids Are All Right, but this is different. In The Face of Love movie, she captures the physical exhaustion of grief. There’s a scene where she just stares at Tom while he’s painting, and you can see her trying to superimpose her husband’s memories onto his face. It’s haunting.
Robin Williams also makes a poignant appearance as the neighbor, Roger. Knowing now what we know about Williams, his performance as the lonely, pining friend adds an extra layer of sadness to the whole production. He serves as the "voice of reason," though his motives are slightly selfish since he’s been in love with Nikki for years. It creates this weird love quadrangle where two of the participants are essentially ghosts or shadows.
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The Mexico Sequence: A Turning Point
The movie shifts gears when they travel to Mexico. This is where the "Face of Love" starts to crack. Nikki takes Tom to the exact spot where Garrett died. It’s morbid. It’s also the moment where the audience starts to realize that Nikki isn't just grieving—she’s stuck in a loop.
The cinematography here by Antonio Riestra is lush but isolating. The bright blues of the Pacific Ocean look beautiful, but they represent the very thing that killed her husband. By bringing Tom here, she’s trying to rewrite history. She’s trying to give the story a better ending. But life doesn't work like that. You can’t just swap out actors in your personal history and expect the script to change.
The Lingering Legacy of the Film
Is The Face of Love movie a masterpiece? Maybe not in the technical sense. But as a character study, it’s fascinating. It tackles "Widowhood" in a way that isn't sanitized. It shows the selfishness of grief. Nikki is incredibly selfish in this movie. She lies to Tom. She gaslights him. She uses him. And yet, you can’t help but feel for her.
The film didn't break the box office. It didn't win ten Oscars. But it has found a second life on streaming platforms because it resonates with anyone who has ever lost someone and wished for just five more minutes. It’s a "What If" story taken to its most logical, painful conclusion.
- Director: Arie Posin
- Main Cast: Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Robin Williams, Amy Brenneman
- Genre: Romantic Drama / Mystery
- Themes: Grief, Identity, Memory, Second Chances
If you're going to watch it, don't expect a Nicholas Sparks ending. Expect something that sticks in your throat a bit. It’s a movie that demands you look at the face of your own partner and ask: Who am I really seeing?
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How to Approach This Story Today
If you find yourself drawn to the themes in this film, it might be worth exploring the "Resurrection" trope in cinema. Films like Vertigo or even Solaris play with similar ideas—the return of a lost lover and the madness that follows. The Face of Love movie is the domestic, suburban version of that cosmic horror.
For those navigating their own grief, the film serves as a cautionary tale about "replacement." Healing isn't about finding a look-alike; it’s about accepting the vacancy.
Actionable Insights for Movie Lovers:
- Watch for the subtle differences: Pay attention to Ed Harris’s body language as Tom vs. Garrett; it’s a masterclass in acting.
- Look at the art: The paintings in the film aren't just props; they represent the "reconstruction" of identity that Tom is going through.
- Research the backstory: Knowing that Arie Posin based this on his mother's real experience makes Nikki's "crazy" actions feel much more human and less like a plot device.
- Compare with Vertigo: If you're a film buff, watch this back-to-back with the Hitchcock classic to see how the "male gaze" vs. "female gaze" changes the "doppelgänger" narrative.
The movie ends on a note that is both heartbreaking and slightly hopeful. It suggests that while we can't replace what we've lost, we can eventually reach a point where we stop looking for ghosts in the faces of strangers. It’s about the hard work of letting go. Truly letting go.