Naomi Jaye directs Britt Lower in ‘Darkest Miriam’

Cinema | January 12th, 2026

By Greg Carlson

Writer-director Naomi Jaye adapts fellow Canadian Martha Baillie’s 2009 novel “The Incident Report” as a potent and introspective character study. Retitled “Darkest Miriam,” Jaye’s movie stars Britt Lower as a Toronto librarian quietly observing a parade of quirky patrons whose behavior occasionally necessitates the filing of official workplace memos. Bibliophiles and public library supporters might represent some of the likeliest potential fans of the rewarding film, but Jaye cultivates an intimate human connection between Lower’s Miriam and a Slovenian taxi driver/artist played by Tom Mercier that humanizes the frequently inscrutable title protagonist.

Lower, best known as the most recent recipient of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work on “Severance,” cloaks Miriam in an unflappable stoicism and detachment that might otherwise be interpreted as inscrutable numbness. Well into the story, the viewer comes to understand that Miriam is still processing her feelings about the recent death of her father. Jaye trusts Lower and the audience by resisting any urge to explain in detail the concrete markers of Miriam’s unexpected risks and choices (like her bold and emphatic seduction of Mercier’s Janko), and the choice pays off by drawing us deeper into the main character’s experiences.

As Miriam explores a romantic relationship with Janko, oddly specific notes seemingly written directly to her begin to turn up in the pages of books she reshelves. These mysterious letters could easily suggest the ominous presence of a creepy stalker/watcher, and at one point, Miriam deals with the uninvited physical closeness of a library patron. But interestingly, Jaye veers in the opposite direction of a conventional thriller, electing to foreground Miriam’s resolute agency and leave the impact of the notes on Miriam to the imagination. The result is a kind of unspoken sympathy for some of the frequently vilified regulars who take comfort in the welcoming and egalitarian idealism of the public library space.

Many of these people are identified by traits that might end up in one of the incident reports processed by Miriam or one of her colleagues while others are labeled simply by physical features or how they use the library. We meet Suitcase Man and Desperate Man and the Unusually Pale Female Patron. Other guests include Beautiful Young Man, Fainting Man and Piano Mom and Piano Girl (who uses the library’s practice room; Jaye develops an intriguing motif through references to specific musical compositions). When Miriam fills out a report, she often writes “none” in the “action taken” box.

While it is fair to read that lack of action as a wry commentary on Miriam’s own stasis and emotional paralysis, another possible interpretation suggests a strong sense of humanism for the folks who spend many hours in the library. Andrew Parker shrewdly notes that the “open displays of poverty and hardship” glimpsed around the adjacent Allan Gardens Conservatory extend to Miriam’s workplace, where many seek “refuge from the rest of the city.” Additionally, Jaye sculpts plenty of humor in the midst of some heavy, serious and grim realities faced by Miriam.

“Darkest Miriam” premiered at Tribeca in 2024 and is now available to view on Tubi. Reach Greg Carlson at gregcarlson1@gmail.com.

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