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When Fall Is Coming

213 votes

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.

Status: Released

Released Date: 2024-10-02

Runtime: 104 mins

Director: François Ozon

Writer: François Ozon

Spoken language: Français

Genres: Drama, Thriller, Comedy

Original title: When Fall Is Coming

Production Companies: Mandarin Cinéma, FOZ, France 2 Cinéma, France Télévisions, CNC, Ciné+, Playtime, Canal+

Production Countries: France

Cast

Hélène Vincent

Josiane Balasko

Ludivine Sagnier

Pierre Lottin

Le médecin de Michelle

Vincent Colombe

La capitaine

Sophie Guillemin

Lucas

Garlan Erlos

Laurent

Malik Zidi

La médecin de l'hôpital

Marie-Laurence Tartas

Lucas (18 ans)

Paul Beaurepaire

Le curé

Sidiki Bakaba

Le brigadier

Pierre Le Coz

Reviews

Geronimo1967

“Michelle” (Hélène Vincent) lives a solitary life in her rural home where she is eagerly anticipating the imminent arrival of her daughter “Valérie” (Ludvine Sagnier) and the apple of her eye, grandson “Lucas” (Garlan Erlos who morphs, uncannily, into the older Paul Beaurepaire). In preparation for this visit, she goes with best friend “Marie-Claude” (Josiane Balasko) to pick mushrooms. This latter lady has problems of her own, with her son “Vincent” (Pierre Lottin) currently incarcerated for a crime we know little about. Anyway, when the family arrive it becomes clear that the mother/daughter relationship isn’t that great - a situation borne from how “Michelle” made her living and of her daughter’s impending divorce and that only worsens when a dodgy mushroom leaves one in hospital and “Michelle” essentially barred from seeing “Lucas”. Meanwhile, “Vincent” gets out of jail so “Michelle” kindly gives him a job managing her extensive garden and that’s when he overhears a conversation between the two women that demonstrates the level of frustrating despair felt by the now estranged grandmother. He decides to see if he can help, with tragic results that end up - well is it a whodunnit or is not? Is it an intricate web of considered scheming or just an accident and some coincidences? It’s that element of uncertainty, coupled with strong performances from just about everyone than makes this story worth watching. There are questions asked that aren’t directly answered, we are encouraged to conclude or assume but given some quite conflicting clues to keep us interested and by the conclusion of the film there’s even the vaguest hint of a winking bromance! The photography and the audio mixing are gently effective and the film, though at times a little repetitive, delivers us a poignant look at loneliness, stigma, loyalty and love.

2025-05-08

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