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Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts stun in this exceptional drama/romance. Driven by intense inner demons, Schoenaerts destroys everything around him, only to build it back up in a gripping climax that nearly had me in tears. This was amazing. I have loved everything that I've seen Schoenaerts in and I look forward to exploring more.
"Alain" (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a bit of a drifter who must look after his young son "Sam" (Armand Verdure). They head to Antibes where they will live with his sister and where he hopes to get a job. He's no slacker - he's not into drugs or booze and so manages to get a job as a nightclub bouncer. He also augments his income with some bare-knuckle fighting thanks to his manager "Martial" (Bouli Lanners). It's a terrible accident at the local marine park that introduces him to "Stéphanie" (Marion Cotillard). Thanks to this accident she has been left without her lower legs, and slowly the pair begin to bond. He is soon helping her with her mobility and a visit to the beach allows her to swim - a freedom she enjoys. A few prosthetic limbs later and she is much more mobile, a little more content and their relationship starts to become more physical. Ostensibly it's just sex, but as she begins to manage his boxing activities both find the casualness of that relationship isn't maybe what they want for the future. All the while, "Alain" is having to maintain a relationship with his young son and the story rather inconclusively ends in a scenario for that relationship that comes perilously close to disaster. To be honest, not a great deal happens here. It's a gradual development of their characterisation and in that it proves quite engaging. Both of these individuals have their flaws, and it's their burgeoning rapport that is enabling a degree of self-assessment and prioritisation. Cotillard is throughly convincing and her opposite number does all that is required of his less developed, but still pretty poignant role. There is something everyday about this film, the story - though exaggerated for dramatic purposes - does ring true and though one or two of the sub-plots just clutter it up, it's a solid story well told.
