Applying his characteristically destabilizing artistry to the shapeshifting contours of this deceptively low-key drama, François Ozon (Everything Went Fine, Summer of ’85) devotes loving attention to the complex experiences of an elderly woman whose past keeps rearing its head in unforeseeable ways. Boasting impeccable turns from a strong ensemble cast, the film’s many pleasures include Ozon’s reunion with his Swimming Pool leading lady Sagnier for their first collaboration in more than two decades.

Michelle is enjoying a peaceful retirement in a Burgundy village, close to her longtime friend Marie-Claude. When her Parisian daughter Valérie drops off her son Lucas to spend school vacation with his grandma, Michelle, stressed out by her daughter, serves her toxic mushrooms for lunch. Valérie quickly recovers, but forbids her mother from seeing her grandson anymore. Feeling lonely and guilty, Michelle falls into a depression… until Marie-Claude's son gets out of prison.

Reviews

"Given the soft-focus cosiness with which cinema so often depicts older characters, especially women, this film’s dramatizing of late-life content, sorrow and solitude is as subversive in its way as anything Ozon has done, and a tartly intelligent rejoinder to the clichés of screen ageism." –Screen