In I'm Not With You, screened in the Opus Bonum section of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, French filmmaking duo Olivier Dury and Marie-Violaine Brincard offer a close-up glimpse inside a restricted psychiatric ward within the Cadillac institution in France, where patients in acute crisis are admitted both voluntarily and involuntarily. Over the course of a month, the directors observe daily interactions and quiet moments within the facility, capturing patient experiences to paint an intimate portrait of both the individuals and the institution itself. This immersive approach fosters a contemplative reflection on lives often marginalised or abstracted by society.

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The film’s minimalist framing invites viewers into the shared though isolated existence of the protagonists. The stripped-down observational style isn’t a departure for Brincard and Dury but a continuation of their approach to documentary filmmaking and their focus on political and social themes with a commitment to humanising their subjects. Brincard’s previous projects have similarly explored human rights issues, centring on marginalised perspectives through a patient, close-up approach. Dury’s documentary work reveals a preference for a restrained aesthetic, allowing subjects to occupy the frame without overt direction or interjected commentary, a method which has characterised their collaborative projects too.

Dury’s cinematography opts for stationary, unbroken shots, each scene lengthened to evoke a near-somnolent rhythm that reflects the institutional atmosphere in I'm Not With You. This pacing leaves room for the subjects—Théo, Lucie, Louisette, Hervé, and Benjamin—to emerge as individuals through their conversations, reactions, and interactions, rather than through any diagnoses they might bear. The camera lingers on seemingly mundane moments, such as smoking in the garden, walking in a corridor, or listening to music, investing these scenes with significance which questions the lines between “normal” and “abnormal” within the context of the ward.

The filmmakers refrain from story arcs or explanatory voice-overs, presenting each protagonist’s actions as fragments of a larger, implicit story. Their minimalist approach removes any distance and amplifies our shared experience with the protagonists. Unexpectedly, moments of humour arise as the subjects acknowledge and engage with the filmmakers, challenging the documentary's intended observational detachment and conventions. These instances underscore the filmmakers’ commitment to destigmatising psychiatric patients by portraying them through a human lens rather than focusing on diagnoses or symptoms. Acute episodes are intentionally kept off-screen with only minor squabbles captured on camera, however these outbursts are tackled later on in follow-up conversations between patients and doctors.

The film’s pace and formal austerity resonate, maintaining a commitment to empathy without resorting to sentimentality and depicting a normalcy under circumstances not usually considered normal. In this sense, I'm Not With You is a civil portrait that quietly respects its subjects, presenting them not through the spectacle of abnormality but through moments of everyday life within institutional confines.

I'm Not With You was produced by L'atelier documentaire.