Aomi Muyock makes Electra matter in Love, despite writing that gives her too little life beyond a man's regret. We value that vulnerability, while remaining cautious about how much one restricted performance can tell us.
Fi1m perspective
In Love (2015), Aomi Muyock's Electra sometimes makes Murphy's account of himself seem insufficient. She gives us glimpses of feelings that cannot be reduced to his regret, and we want the film to stay with her long enough to find out more. We were moved by the vulnerability she brought to those moments. Gaspar Noé's screenplay keeps returning to sex and unhappiness, leaving her with too few opportunities to make Electra a person we can consider separately from Murphy.
She had no previous acting experience when she made Love, her screen debut, and it is worth separating the demands of that part from its shortcomings. The explicit scenes earn their place in the romance; the laboured conversations do considerably less for either actor or audience. Klara Kristin's Omi has even less room to develop beyond the central man's predicament. Muyock gets enough feeling into Electra for the thin writing to become frustrating, though we would not claim that her performance makes this disappointing romance worth recommending.
The first major follow-up, Jessica Forever (2018), gives her a different kind of responsibility. Directed by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, it casts her as Jessica, a protective leader of orphaned young men in a dystopian setting. The role draws on physical authority and non-verbal performance. She worked with Poggi and Vinel again on the short Best Secret Place (2023).
We would like to see her given a part with more ordinary behaviour in it, where desire and distress are not the only things worth discussing. The brief tenderness in Love gives us reason to hope she could make that material matter. We would not make her debut into a larger achievement than it is. Anyone seeking her out in Love should be prepared for the screenplay to keep looking elsewhere.
Biography
Aomi Muyock is a Swiss model and actress. Born on 14 January 1989 in Ticino, she grew up speaking Italian and comes from an artistic family; her parents are both visual artists.
She began modelling for the Elite agency, appearing in fashion shows and campaigns including one for Lolita Lempicka perfume. Muyock made her acting debut in Gaspar Noé's 2015 erotic drama Love, in which she played Electra opposite Karl Glusman. She had no prior acting experience. She later took the title role in the 2018 film Jessica Forever.
