Ricky

Ricky (2009) is a French fantasy drama from François Ozon you can watch online on iFILM. Katie works at a chemical plant and raises a daughter alone until she meets Paco, a Spanish co-worker. Their affair is brief and ordinary, but the baby that comes out of it turns out to be anything but.

Ozon takes the texture of a gritty working-class drama and threads one quiet miracle through it, and that miracle starts pulling the family apart. The strangeness frightens at first, then becomes a test for everyone — the mother, the father, the jealous older daughter. I won't spoil what actually happens to Ricky; half the effect lies in how matter-of-factly the director presents the impossible.

Alexandra Lamy and Sergi López lead, both playing worn-out, fully human people rather than fairy-tale figures. The film premiered at the Berlinale. It's an odd, uneven, oddly moving little thing for anyone who likes fantasy hidden inside an ordinary apartment. Stream Ricky (2009) online on iFILM.