Belgian filmmaking trio Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy (L'Iceberg) have crafted a bittersweet, surreal urban fantasy set in the dreary seaside town of Le Havre. Dom, a lonely hotel clerk (Abel) meets Fiona (Gordon), an odd indigent woman who says she's a fairy and offers to grant him three wishes. His first two wishes, a scooter and free gasoline for life, are procured by anything but magical means, but Dom quickly becomes smitten. Whimsical slapstick and impressive feats of physical comedy follow, as the characters careen through the streets and swim in the bay, finding love along the way. The Fairy is filmed partly in stop-motion, enhancing the dance-like movements of the actors and painting the story's world with an odd temporality made of twitching light and shadow. Though occasionally the absurd humor falls flat, the attempt to forge something utterly unlike anything else happening in cinema today gives this film a mesmerizing and memorable charm.
