When we feel a desire for someone–or something–are we brave enough to express that love, uninhibited of others’ thoughts?

And what if that something isn’t human at all? But rather, an inanimate object–or in the case of Jumbo–a towering amusement park ride?

In Jumbo, Jeanne (Noémie Merlant), a shy theme park worker, falls in love with a new “attraction” and explores what love means. What’s even more fascinating about this concept is that Jumbo is in fact based on a true story. And while it may sound like a silly premise for a film, Jumbo (the pet-name that Jeanne gives to “The Move It” theme park ride) is actually–somewhat surprisingly–heartfelt, sincere, and emotionally felt.

Zoé Wittock directs the film with such compassion (and sensuality) that you really could substitute “Jumbo” with anything at all and the film would still hold strong as an involving, stimulating movie about forbidden love. But the fact that Jumbo is specifically about this sort of tilt-a-whirl attraction is what gives the film its visual identity, which Wittock uses to highlight its oscillating movement, and kaleidoscopic light design, which Jeanne is succumbed by.

Jumbo really only works because of the lead performance from Noémie Merlant (who audiences will recognize from Portrait of a Lady on Fire). She gives an incredibly vulnerable, yet sincere and committed performance as Jeanne, who we may or may not immediately recognize is suffering from mental health issues (I felt a similarity to Alison Brie’s character in Netflix’s Horse Girl).

And also of note is the committed performance of Emmanuelle Bercot as Jeanne’s mother, who also pushes herself to understand her daughter’s odd expression of love.

While Jumbo is certainly strange in its conceit, it does also show bravery in what committed, true love looks like.

Distributed by Dark Star Pictures, Jumbo is opening in virtual theaters this Friday, February 19, 2021.