Jessica Palud’s “Being Maria” (2024) takes a hard, unflinching look at one of film history’s most hotly debated scenes, the infamous ‘butter’ moment in Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris.” The film has some of the most polarised reception ever, with most attention fixated on one scene when Marlon Brando’s character forces himself on Maria Schneider’s. The actress went on to call out the scene as being entirely improvised and being utterly abased by the moment, of which she had no foreknowledge.

Palud’s film, co-written with Laurette Polmanss, reckons with the impact of that particular scene, its earlier iterations in the life and larger career of the actress. Adapting loosely from the actress’ cousin’s memoir, this is by no measure a piercing, acute portrait of an artist in emotional duress but stays afloat somewhat on the commitment of its lead, Anamaria Vartolomei, who broke out...