French Film Reviews: Un Amour Impossible

Based on Christine Angot’s ‘autobiographical novel’, Un Amour Impossible probes her parents’ volatile relationship and the conspiracy of silence that allowed her absent father to commit the ultimate transgression: incest.

Rachel is on the cusp of being “on the shelf” when Philippe waltzes into her life. Beguiling with his irresistible charisma and bombast, the manipulative bourgeois keeps her at arm’s length one minute, vowing never to marry, only to act like an infatuated schoolboy the next, rekindling her hope of a future together.

The one-sided fling ends abruptly when she falls pregnant and he vanishes, leaving her with an idée-fixe: to make him recognise his daughter. Philippe eventually relents – with dire consequences. A thoughtful and troubling exploration of the pernicious mechanics of abuse.