Hotel Chevalier

In the hotel lobby, the concierge answers a phone call that comes from a guest's room, grounding the scene in the hotel setting. Jack is elsewhere in his room, lying on the bed in a yellow bathrobe and watching a black-and-white film while reading a newspaper. The exchange hints at the ordinary rhythm of hotel life about to be disrupted.

Jack lies on the bed in a yellow bathrobe, watching a film and reading a newspaper. He orders room service through the concierge, signaling his attempt to maintain a routine in isolation. The setup frames his solitary mood before any visitor arrives.

Rhett, Jack's ex-girlfriend, calls to say she is on her way from the airport and asks for his room number. The call introduces an impending reunion that will disrupt Jack's isolation. Her arrival becomes the emotional pivot of the night.

Jack agrees to her coming and hurriedly tidies the room. He pauses to play the opening bars of 'Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?' on the stereo and then runs a bath. The preparations reveal his anxious mix of longing and avoidance.

Rhett knocks and enters as Jack is about to greet her, and she notices the song still playing while she holds a bouquet. They exchange a tense first moment: he avoids kissing her while they embrace. She asks how she found him, and he admits it wasn't hard.

Rhett moves around the room, browsing through Jack's possessions and even brushing his toothbrush. She declines to use the bath he prepared, highlighting a casual intimacy and boundary-testing in their reunion. The scene deepens the sense of a complicated past resurfacing.

Back in the bedroom, Rhett confronts Jack with 'what the fuck is going on?' He explains that he has been living in the hotel room for more than a month to escape their relationship. They lie back on the bed, looking at one another as the tension remains unresolved.

The arrival of room service interrupts their tense exchange, breaking the momentary lull. After the interruption, they resume closeness, sharing a kiss and continuing their ambiguous reunion. The interruption heightens the tension by forcing a pause in their fragile balance.

Jack begins to undress Rhett as they kiss again, initiating a more intimate exchange. They discuss whether they have slept with other people, and Jack notices bruises on her arm that she chooses not to comment on. The scene layers sexual tension with unspoken histories.

Rhett tells Jack she does not want to lose his friendship and that she loves him, never meaning to hurt him. He replies coldly that he will never be her friend, yet they hold each other in a conflicted embrace. The moment captures the ambivalence at the center of their relationship.

'Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?' starts again, and Jack offers Rhett his view of Paris, reinforcing the dreamlike, uncertain possibility of a shared future. The music acts as a motif tying their past to their precarious present. They linger in the moment, suspended between romance and withdrawal.

On the balcony, Jack covers Rhett's naked body with the yellow bathrobe as they step outside to look at the view. He hands her a toothpick from his pocket with an upward nod, and she returns the gesture, reinforcing a quiet, intimate exchange. They stand close, the city behind them but their relationship in the foreground.

Having shared a quiet moment on the balcony, they step back inside together, bringing the scene to a close. The moment leaves their future unresolved, with lingering closeness and potential danger. The night ends on an unsettled, intimate note.