21 Nov 2018
Director: Xavier Legrand
France
2017
94 mins
Carefully and sensitively directed with intense, restrained performances throughout, Xavier Legrand’s debut feature is an explosive family drama that is as gripping as it is authentic. Fans of the Dardenne brothers or the work of Maurice Pialat will recognise this film’s unsentimental realism in its approach to this electrifyingly domestic nightmare. The custody battle at the heart of this story is between Miriam (Léa Drucker) and Antoine (Denis Ménochet). In the film’s opening scenes we see the courtroom drama unfold, with Miriam pushing for sole custody of their son who is witness to the testimony of his father’s past abuses. The subsequent ruling of the court sets in motion a chain of events that is almost unbearably tense.
Venice Film Festival 2017 – Winner Luigi De Laurentiis Award