I apreciate the beautiful acting, especially Isabelle Carre. The second nice virtue - the tea shop. Not the last, the fair use of ambiguity. And, sure, the remorses and the fall of marriage. A story about family and truth, manipulation and game with lives. Bitter moral. Few unrealistic situation, a too easy beginning of affair, a too long and, in some measure, pathetic exploration of the answers of characters about infeility after the end of adultery. And, sure, the naked young woman photo in the memory of smartphone as bizarre detail. In final, precise portrait of infidelity consequences.
2 Reviews
Evokes our sympathy, and maybe a slight chill of fear?
Charlot4724 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
In contemporary Paris, a married couple with a teenage son are subjected to two intense shocks. An enigmatic young woman seduces the husband and severely erodes the wife's equilibrium. Then a car crash removes the young woman from their lives but leaves her toxic residue.
The angel of destruction is the young woman, Alice. Pretty, quietly self-assured, helped financially by her parents, she first rejects the friendship of the girl she shares a flat with in order to take a place of her own, where in no time she has the real estate agent, Julien, in her bed. Then she gets herself hired as waitress in the teashop owned by Julien's wife, Marie. A triangle of escalating deception follows, as Julien and Marie separately confide in Alice while Julien lies to Marie and Alice lies to both. Alice does not want Julien to leave Marie, nor does she want Marie's teashop to fail. Vampire-like, she is sucking the life out of this couple who have jobs to do and a son to bring up.
A car crash puts Julien in hospital, where Marie answers his smartphone and finds all the texts shared between him and a lover, who she identifies from a fetching nude picture. Without giving her reason, she closes down her shop and sacks Alice. After rehabilitation, Julien comes home. Happy to get back to work and spend time with his son, he does not call Alice, though tempted, and instead seeks reconciliation with Marie. But her wounds are too deep: unable to live with the constant memory of the double betrayal, unhealed she chooses the oblivion of divorce.
Alice, a postscript says, is living with a young man of her age in Bordeaux. What outside events or inner demons have driven her to such malevolent behaviour is unexplained. Bland, sweet, never telling the truth and totally selfish, she just spreads misery. While she is a cipher, and Julien is predictable, the emotional centre of the story is Marie. Her descent from wife, mother, and businesswoman to lonely and sad embitterment evokes our sympathy, and maybe a slight chill of fear?
The angel of destruction is the young woman, Alice. Pretty, quietly self-assured, helped financially by her parents, she first rejects the friendship of the girl she shares a flat with in order to take a place of her own, where in no time she has the real estate agent, Julien, in her bed. Then she gets herself hired as waitress in the teashop owned by Julien's wife, Marie. A triangle of escalating deception follows, as Julien and Marie separately confide in Alice while Julien lies to Marie and Alice lies to both. Alice does not want Julien to leave Marie, nor does she want Marie's teashop to fail. Vampire-like, she is sucking the life out of this couple who have jobs to do and a son to bring up.
A car crash puts Julien in hospital, where Marie answers his smartphone and finds all the texts shared between him and a lover, who she identifies from a fetching nude picture. Without giving her reason, she closes down her shop and sacks Alice. After rehabilitation, Julien comes home. Happy to get back to work and spend time with his son, he does not call Alice, though tempted, and instead seeks reconciliation with Marie. But her wounds are too deep: unable to live with the constant memory of the double betrayal, unhealed she chooses the oblivion of divorce.
Alice, a postscript says, is living with a young man of her age in Bordeaux. What outside events or inner demons have driven her to such malevolent behaviour is unexplained. Bland, sweet, never telling the truth and totally selfish, she just spreads misery. While she is a cipher, and Julien is predictable, the emotional centre of the story is Marie. Her descent from wife, mother, and businesswoman to lonely and sad embitterment evokes our sympathy, and maybe a slight chill of fear?
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
