DRAMA; 1hr 42min (French with subtitles)
STARRING: Hélène Vincent, Josiane Balasko, Ludivine Sagnier, Pierre Lottin, Garlan Erlos
Before the fall: from left, Vincent and Balasko
With the economy of an artist, director François Ozon (Swimming Pool ) outlines the tranquil routines of churchgoing, veggie-growing Burgundy villager Michelle (a perfectly demure, 81-year-old Vincent). Teaming up with her stalwart best friend, Marie-Claude (Balasko), the unassuming retiree also likes to forage for wild mushrooms, which comes back to bite and haunt her when she accidentally poisons her visiting daughter, Valérie (Sagnier). Ouch.
Valérie, who has dropped in for lunch from Paris, where she lives in the apartment that her mother has gifted her, could hardly be more obnoxious or ungracious, pressuring Michelle for money while snidely referencing her advanced age. Post-poisoning, which leaves Valérie in an even worse humour than before, Michelle can also forget about a much-looked-forward-to vacation with her adored 10-year-old grandson, Lucas (Erlos), or any other visits, come to that — and by the way, 500€ wouldn’t go astray, Valérie being a creature of need.
Bereft and depressed, Michelle takes to her bed — but salvation is at hand in the unlikely form of Marie-Claude’s son, Vincent (Lottin), freshly released from prison with a spivvy moustache and a smooth attitude. Generous to her usual fault, Michelle offers him handyman work around her house, whereupon Ozon and co-writer Philippe Piazzo’s genteel doddle of a screenplay segues into the thematic deliverance of ambiguity.
Beware the folly of first impressions! If Michelle’s unfolding story were all it appeared to be at the outset, sunshine and home-grown pumpkins would be the order of a day that develops piece by paradoxical piece into a Rubik’s Cube of a ride. Part murder mystery (or is it?), with characters “made of light and shadow” and a splash of the supernatural, it lives and dies on the central question it strategically chooses not to answer.
