The relative informality of child custody court and its unproportionally large consequences are the subject of writer/director Xavier Legrand’s granular study of the aftereffects of an unamicable divorce between superstore clerk Léa Drucker and hospital security agent Denis Ménochet. Two kids are also involved, the 18-yr-old daughter, not much affected by the outcome, while a younger son, about 14, terrified of being alone with dad. But is he really such an ogre? Or has a resentful wife been systematically turning the kids against him. Legrand lets us know the score quickly as Ménochet’s temper blows on a very short fuse and needs the smallest of slights to be activated.* So the film lives or dies on observation, accurate details, bad timing and our belief in how domestic violence is the controlling factor; all of which Legrand develops to great effect and the sort of real life terror barely touched upon in genre horror films meant to do nothing but give you a quick scare. Debuting non-pro Thomas Gioria as the boy (a shuttlecock between the parents) is especially terrific. Haunting stuff here, top César award winner.
DOUBLE-BILL: Originally planned as three short films, director Legrand expanded the last two parts into a single feature after making the first section in 2013 as AVANT QUE DE TOUT PERDRE; included on the KINO-Lorber DVD. Legrand prefers you watch the prequel after the feature. (Note the young son is played by a different actor in 2013.)
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *As the bull-like dad, Denis Ménochet could give Robert De Niro lessons calibrating degrees of threat. (Compare with THIS BOY’S LIFE/’93.) Yet he’s even better, subtler, in the earlier film, shot when Ménochet was three years younger/twenty pounds lighter. In the feature, his bulk tends to give the game away before he’s shown his hand.
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