A couple signs divorce papers; they host a dinner party; their son is born; they are married; they meet. Those five events, in that order, are all we see of Gilles' and Marion's relationship.
Since we know from the first minute of the movie that this marriage is doomed, we can't help but watch each scene looking for the reasons why, but there are no easy answers. We can see at every stage, even their first encounter at an Italian resort, that Gilles tends to be hostile and Marion passive, and that they really aren't quite suited for one another, but they don't seem any less likely to succeed than most other couples.
It's as if the story is told in the cracks, with the audience forced to draw its own conclusions about what happens in the months and years between these five glimpses. And maybe that's the point. We can never know the whole story; even Gilles and Marion don't seem to know what's happening, and they're the ones living it.
This is the least flashy movie we've seen from Ozon, with none of the puzzle-plotting of Swimming Pool or the elaborate staging of 8 Women, but its quiet depiction of a slowly dying relationship is fascinating to watch and the final scene is quite lovely, given a wistful sadness by our knowledge that this perfect moment is only going to lead to unhappiness. Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Stéphane Freiss are marvelous in the lead roles.
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