An almost professional musician, Perrine ekes out a living as a costumed character performer for birthdays and other events. On her way to a seniors’ center, she gets lost and stops at a garbage dump in the country. But when she tries to ask a man there for directions, she accidents bumps him into the pit. Panicked, Perrine calls for an ambulance but decides to run away. Unable to live with the idea that she’s killed the man, she investigates the accident and finds out he is still alive, but in a coma. Perrine’s only way out seems to be to insinuate herself into his life to make things right…

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Sweet and imaginative in the style of Amélie, Marie Belhomme’s debut follows the ordinary adventures of a 30-year-old single woman who is introverted and more or less asexual, who decides to help those around her after a tragic event – an accidental coma instead of the death of Lady Di. The perfect assignment for the moving Isabelle Carré, in her usual role as a fragile, sweet and awkward woman. But what seems to be a fable of magical realism with humorous scenes and dialogue is instead boring. Les Chaises musicales lacks energy despite some good ideas that must have sounded funny on paper, and its characters are superficial.