Film Review: MA FAMILLE CHÉRIE: Isild Le Besco’s Family-Themed Drama Has its Share of Ups and Downs [Locarno 2024]

Thomas Duffy August 30, 2024Last Updated: August 30, 2024

Élodie Bouchez Isild Le Besco Ma Famille Cherie

Ma famille chérie Review

Ma famille chérie / My Darling Family (2024) Film Review from the 77th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a movie directed by Isild Le Besco, written by Raphaëlle Desplechin, Isild Le Besco and Steven Mitz and starring Élodie Bouchez, Marisa Berenson, Isild Le Besco, Jeanne Balibar, Elie Semoun, Geoffrey Carey, Lili Courtin Dupont, Stefano Cassetti and Sam Spruell.

Isild Le Besco’s charming but slight French drama, Ma famille chérie, is given a boost by a remarkable series of performances in search of a good plot. The dysfunctional family units that exist in the world can be found as the focus in films in France and all over the world. Parts of this new film echo the U.S. hit, It Ends with Us. But, this latest endeavor from Le Besco suffers a tad from pacing that is uneven despite its wonderful performances.

Élodie Bouchez top lines the cast of the movie as Estelle, a woman who has had a couple of marriages and currently finds herself with an abusive man named Antonio (the superb Stefano Cassetti). A tragedy lurks in her family’s past and she is clearly suffering from some sort of depression as she doesn’t even seem enthusiastic on her birthday even if everyone else surrounding her is paying a lot of attention to her. Antonio wants sex but she’s not feeling him and, in short order, she goes to visit her family, headed by the quirky mother (known as Queen in the credits) played by the remarkably witty Marisa Berenson.

Meanwhile, Estelle’s daughter, Isabelle (Lili Courtin Dupont), has chopped most of her hair off and seems to be going through some personal things of her own. There’s the sister, Janet (Jeanne Balibar) and the sister who is played by the director, Le Besco, Manon. Everybody seems to co-exist despite their differences and Berenson’s character associates with a funny guy named Michael (a hilarious Geoffrey Carey). The plot starts to thicken a bit when Estelle reunites with a guy from her past, William (the excellent Sam Spruell), who we eventually learn really wants to kiss her.

Antonio is out of the equation for a while but the scenes with him are very disturbing. Yet, it’s hard to believe that Estelle is married to him given his insensitivity towards her deep-seated emotions. The film works when it focuses on the troubles they face despite the implausibilities due to the fine acting by both Cassetti and Bouchez. There are, of course, many family members here but it would be impossible to analyze all of the different dynamics of the family relationships in a brief review like this.

However, the film does do some things that should be pointed out. Its primary asset is its attention to detail and when the scene arrives when Estelle’s mom pushes her to a breaking point, it’s realistic and fascinating to watch. This movie lays out some very dramatic scenarios and makes the audience want to root for Estelle and see her romance with William blossom.

Bouchez is the heart of the movie, though. She makes us sympathize with her predicament and there’s genuine warmness in her heart that the actress brings to the role. This character lightens up a bit with William and we soon understand that Estelle’s marriage to Antonio was not what she needed to cope with the trauma in her life.

Although all the supporting actors are good, more or less, the movie is overstuffed and under-written at the same time. The latter scenes display a tragic scenario that occurs on a beach and juxtaposes it to a current situation within the film. A horse is involved in the events of the past which will explain why there’s a horse shown at the opening title of the movie. The film tries to jam pack everything into a relatively short running time and there’s not enough time to develop each character equally.

That being stated, Ma famille chérie is an earnest effort and a heartfelt one. This is the type of picture that’s easy for an audience to embrace because it’s like a genuine slice-of-life. Dysfunctional families in movies tend to make audiences think they are watching things that happen behind closed doors that they shouldn’t be seeing. That would hold true for this film. Even if not every situation works as well as it could in the picture, there’s an underlying integrity in many of the characters that make this a movie that you may enjoy simply for keeping it real.

Rating: 7/10

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