Movie Review

Film Review: ONE FINE MORNING (2022): Léa Seydoux is Terrific in Mia Hansen-Løve’s Dramatic Film

Lea Seydoux One Fine Morning

One Fine Morning Review

One Fine Morning (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve and starring Léa Seydoux, Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud, Nicole Garcia, Sarah Le Picard, Camille Leban Martins and Jana Klein.

Filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve’s new film, One Fine Morning, stars the always reliable Léa Seydoux in an emotional, captivating story that is grounded in reality. It is a movie where nothing dramatically devastating happens although if you consider the concepts of having to move on with life after romantic love and having to put an aging parent in a home, these everyday occurrences can be very draining to watch. Seydoux has built quite an impressive resume of movies in which she played supporting roles so it’s refreshing to see her carry a movie as well as she carries One Fine Morning. This film is a story of trying to pick up the pieces of the past during middle age and is a tale of beginning a new chapter in life.

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Set in Paris, Seydoux stars as Sandra, a translator who is a single mother that has a young daughter named Linn (well-played by bright actress Camille Leban Martins). Sandra thinks love is long behind her as she deals with the problems related to her aging father, Georg (Pascal Greggory)’s degenerative disease that is greatly affecting his abilities. When it is determined that Georg, a former philosophy professor, can no longer live independently, Sandra must cope with the fact that her dad (who has Benson’s syndrome) needs to move out of his apartment for both financial and health reasons.

Sandra rekindles a friendship with a married cosmo-chemist named Clement (Melvil Poupaud). This relationship teaches Sandra to learn to love again as she puts her heart on the line emotionally to try to come to terms with her overwhelming feelings for Clement. There are a number of tastefully done sex scenes between the two characters, Sandra and Clement, as they begin a torrid love affair. Unfortunately, it’s not a straightforward path to happiness for the two of them as Clement is torn between his feelings for his wife and for Sandra and the back and forth between them can be exhausting as they more or less make up and break up several times during the course of the movie.

Léa Seydoux is an absolutely amazing actress and her performance in this film is of the highest caliber. Her best scene comes when Sandra explains to her eight-year old daughter Linn why Sandra thinks the books Georg has read tell more of a clearer story about Georg’s life than the man himself can tell. Georg has become worn down by life and although he didn’t write the books Sandra must take from his home, the fact that these books were read by Georg speaks volumes about the man, himself. Seydoux captures the essence of Sandra in the scenes between her and her dad as well as the ones between her and Linn.

Some of the romantic scenes between Clement and Sandra are so sexual in nature that they could make viewers misinterpret the relationship between these two characters. The non-sexual scenes tell a story that is based more on the need for passion in everyday life than in the bedroom although Sandra and Clement say they desire each other sexually. I thought the scenes were more realistic when the characters were talking about sex rather than when they had sex. The sex scenes felt a bit too heightened for dramatic effect. Poupaud is nevertheless effective in his role in the picture.

With that being said, Hansen-Løve’s movie hits home more often than not. Middle age can be hard as parents age and children start to question things in life that are too complex to explain to them. Greggory as Georg is also terrific here playing an older man of great complexity who is suffering from an illness that will alter his life and his family’s forever. Georg can’t tell if Sandra has short or long hair but talks to her pretending he knows things he does not. He’s a character that Greggory adds a considerable amount of depth to and the scenes between Georg and Sandra are very touching.

If One Fine Morning feels a bit familiar, it’s probably because it has been done before. This is a very personal story that is true to life and therefore somewhat ordinary in certain respects. However, Seydoux starring in a lead role is reason enough to see the film. She gives the film a great appeal. Sandra has short hair and the actress looks a bit different than she has in other movies. In this film, the character transformation that Seydoux displays on screen is tremendously effective. Sandra goes from hopeless to hopeful despite all the heartbreak she endures in the picture. Seydoux is an actress of tremendous range and makes us invested in Sandra all the way through the film. This movie is, overall, a pretty successful effort that audiences will enjoy.

Rating: 7/10

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Thomas Duffy

Thomas Duffy is a graduate of the Pace University New York City campus and has been an avid movie fan all of his life. In college, he interviewed film stars such as Minnie Driver and Richard Dreyfuss as well as directors such as Tom DiCillo and Mark Waters. He is the author of nine works of fiction available on Amazon. He's been reviewing movies since his childhood and posts his opinions on social media. You can follow him on Twitter. His user handle is @auctionguy28.
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