L’Amour Et Les Forêts
Blanche believes she has found the love of her life with Greg, but he turns out to be a possessive and manipulative sneak. French drama about a toxic relationship starring Virginie Éfira and Melvil Poupaud.
Rose takes her twin sister Blanche – both played by Efira – to a party. Blanche reluctantly goes along, but still falls for the advances of Grégoire, an attractive banker. A passionate bond immediately develops between the two of them and after only a few dates, Grégoire introduces her to strangers as ‘his wife’. A pregnancy, a marriage and a move – against the wishes of her sister and their mother – follow in quick succession.
The first sign that something is not right comes shortly after their move. By chance, Blanche discovers that Grégoire has lied to her: he has not been transferred; he asked for it himself. But she ignores this warning. Gradually, however, Grégoire shows himself more and more from a different side. He isolates his wife – from friends, family, even the children. Blanche becomes the victim of endless harassment and cruelty. But then, in a moment of defiance, she connects with a stranger on a dating app. The affair is liberating, but it comes at a high price.
In her adaptation (in collaboration with Audrey Diwan) of Éric Reinhardt's bestseller of the same name, the French filmmaker gets to the heart of a problem that is, sadly, all too common: the gradual control exerted over a woman who only dreams of love, by a manipulative husband who very gradually weaves a spider’s web from which it is extremely difficult to escape. Both lead actors were nominated for a César; the film was awarded the César for best adapted screenplay. (bw)