French Film Review: Quand Vient l’Automne

A tender, family drama with no shortage of suspense, this latest film by François Ozon follows two different paths of motherhood.

This subtle, emotionally-charged thriller set in the golden hues of rural Burgundy follows Michelle (Hélène Vincent), a retired Parisian living in quiet solitude, as she tends to her garden and attends mass, seemingly content with the calm rhythm of old age. But the idyll stops there, for her strained relationship with her adult daughter Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier), who harbours an inexplicable contempt, casts a long shadow.

When Valérie unexpectedly leaves her son, Lucas, with Michelle for a week, Michelle seizes the moment to heal old wounds. However, a mishap involving wild mushrooms (inspired by an incident in Ozon’s own childhood) sows doubt and danger. As suspicions brew and family tensions rise, Michelle turns to her longtime friend Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko), whose own son, Vincent (Pierre Lottin), has recently been released from prison.

Ozon masterfully layers domestic drama with psychological suspense, exploring how love, guilt and buried secrets shape the bonds between generations, as the film contemplates ageing, motherhood and the haunting presence of unresolved pasts. Vincent and Valérie’s differing reactions to their mothers reflect two diverging paths: rejection or protection.

Beautifully scored by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine and grounded in remarkable performances – especially Hélène Vincent’s quietly enigmatic turn – Quand vient l’automne is a tender yet chilling meditation on the fragility of familial love, haunting and compassionate in equal measure. With nature and memory inextricably entwined, Ozon reminds us that beneath the gentlest of surfaces can lie the most unsettling truths.

Director: François Ozon

Starring: Hélène Vincent, Josiane Balasko, Pierre Lottin

From France Today Magazine