A good movie

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by François Ozon, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I have been following Ozon for more than 20 years (I have even seen his directorial debut ‘Sitcom’ in the movie theater when it was released) and I think it was his most sober film I have seen so far. It was also the first time he directed something based on true facts and, in fact, the movie was made and released while the trial was still ongoing at the same time. Eventually, I wonder what made him chose to direct this true tale. Anyway, the end-result was really solid and I believe that Ozon did deliver here one of his best movies. The first act was especially intriguing. Indeed, Melvil Poupaud (probably the most underrated French actor I know) gave another strong performance playing a really square guy with such deep wounds. On top of that, it was just so intriguing to see this man struggling with his traumatic past and, yet, always keeping his composure, in his emails but also in person, even when facing the man who ruined his childhood and pretty much his whole life. And, yet, the damned thing was still missing something to really blow me away though. I mean, the switch to Denis Ménochet’s character made sense since François Debord took over from Alexandre Guérin at some point but I’m not sure if it worked so well with the 3^rd character, Emmanuel Thomassin, played by Swann Arlaud. Even so, this movie gave a convincing glimpse on how the Catholic church in France but also in many other countries has always tried to conceal and minimize decades of abuse. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a strong drama dealing with a horrible tragedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in François Ozon’s work.