I never give spoilers in my reviews, but it's almost impossible to review A perdre la raison (Our children) without giving away what happens at the end, for two reasons. One: this Joachim Lafosse film is based on a true story that made international headlines (the Genevieve Lhermitte case). Two: the very first scene of the film shows the aftermath of an unimaginable tragedy. A mother – sobbing, hospitalised, broken – is begging nurses to bury her children in Morocco.
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The film then rewinds several years to show the same woman, Murielle, almost unrecognisable, as part of a blissfully happy, madly in love young couple. She is planning to build a life with her fiancé Mounir (Tahar Rahim).
Indeed, the pair marry and have a daughter, then another. But there is a complicating factor that slowly, insidiously, begins to tear the young family apart. Mounir, whose family is Moroccan, has lived in Belgium with his adopted father, Dr André Pinget (a quietly menacing Niels Arestrup) for most of his life. The doctor supports Mounir financially and has an equally strong grip on him emotionally – Mounir's distress at Pinget's blank reaction to the couple's engagement being an early illustration of this.
Time passes, and Murielle slowly begins to realise that she and Mounir will never have a home of their own, or any privacy as a couple. As another child arrives, and then another, and her husband becomes more frustrated and distant, she begins to suffer psychological problems, to which Pinget has a callous and unethical reaction. Mounir, too, is unable to alter or escape from the dysfunctional family dynamic. Tension and claustrophobia build to a tragic denouement.
A perdre la raison is difficult to watch, especially as a mother (I am speaking personally here), but is a compelling film with excellent performances all round, particularly from Emilie Dequenne, who won the prestigious Un Certain Regard prize for best actress at Cannes in 2012. A creeping sense of dread pervades the latter part of the film, and certain scenes – such as Murielle breaking down in the car as she sings along, alone, with a love song on the radio – will stay with me for a long time.
A perdre la raison is available on DVD from Peccadillo Pictures
The film then rewinds several years to show the same woman, Murielle, almost unrecognisable, as part of a blissfully happy, madly in love young couple. She is planning to build a life with her fiancé Mounir (Tahar Rahim).
Indeed, the pair marry and have a daughter, then another. But there is a complicating factor that slowly, insidiously, begins to tear the young family apart. Mounir, whose family is Moroccan, has lived in Belgium with his adopted father, Dr André Pinget (a quietly menacing Niels Arestrup) for most of his life. The doctor supports Mounir financially and has an equally strong grip on him emotionally – Mounir's distress at Pinget's blank reaction to the couple's engagement being an early illustration of this.
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| Emilie Dequenne as Murielle |
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| Niels Arestrup as Docteur André Pinget |
A perdre la raison is available on DVD from Peccadillo Pictures