Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s Fugue is a gripping and moving drama (with touches of the surreal and uncanny) about the roles society forces on women and the toll that takes on their health, their relationships, their families, and their children. While this story of a woman with memory loss who has been reunited with her family after two years might be more straightforward than Smoczyńska’s previous film (the delirious and delightful mermaid horror musical The Lure), the emotional terrain it covers is rich and powerful, continuing her exploration of the limitations men attempt to place upon the women in their lives and the need for women to forge a new path for themselves. The two central performances are rich and honest and nuanced, with lovely subtleties and an emotional vulnerability that allows us to follow every beat of these two spouses potentially finding their way back to one another after such a long absence. Gabriela Muskała, pulling double-duty as the film’s lead and writer, has crafted a narrative that in the hands of lesser storytellers would be melodramatic or trite, but here is filled with mystery, poignancy, and even humor. Smoczyńska finds moments to let her stylistic flourishes shine through – a beach that suddenly becomes empty in a moment of horror, a moody and blue-lit silent dancefloor as characters begin to reconnect, an MRI of Alicja’s brain that transforms before our eyes into flowers – moments that help us connect with Alicja’s emotional and mental state, preparing us for the film’s powerful revelations and final moments. It may be more grounded than The Lure, but it’s an accomplished and powerful follow-up that shows Smoczyńska’s true interest in the challenges women face in society.