A commanding, exquisitely-lit and -outfitted Natalie Portman slipping between French and English would be an asset to any filmmaker looking to evoke something powerfully intimate from a story set in 1930’s Paris.
But “Planetarium,” Rebecca Zlotowski’s flirtatiously arty period drama starring Portman and Lily-Rose Depp (“Yoga Hosers”) as tight-knit sisters and performing mediums swirling around the worlds of spiritualism and cinema, is a movie of only superficial pleasures, offering little emotional resonance beyond an expected late-act leaning toward Europe’s troubles to come.
Aside from curiosity from Portman fans who just want to see more of an actress who seemed to disappear post-Oscar, there’s little about this glossy, ironically spirit-less affair to ignite the imagination.