The rich vein of melancholy regret running through Out of Season (Hors-Saison) at times risks tipping over into kitschy nostalgia, with its Lelouch-like intimacy playing out on a wintry seashore to the strains of a wispy, sentimental score. But the throwback feel is deftly offset in Stéphane Brizé’s latest by the emotional vitality of the writing, the interplay of comedy with lingering romantic sorrow and the exquisite chemistry between Alba Rohrwacher and Guillaume Canet, playing former lovers who find a bittersweet reprieve from the disillusioned stasis of their lives when their paths cross years after they were involved.
Brizé’s 10th feature marks a shift from his recent trilogy of sociopolitical workplace dramas starring Vincent Lindon — The Measure of a Man, At War, Another World — fueled by indignation over labor issues. It’s closer in tone to the delicate romances he made more than 10 years ago, notably Mademoiselle Chambon.
Brizé’s 10th feature marks a shift from his recent trilogy of sociopolitical workplace dramas starring Vincent Lindon — The Measure of a Man, At War, Another World — fueled by indignation over labor issues. It’s closer in tone to the delicate romances he made more than 10 years ago, notably Mademoiselle Chambon.
- 9/12/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Everyone assumes Mathieu’s life is marvelous. He is a popular film actor, as evidenced by the waiters and receptionists who take it upon themselves to give an appreciative commentary on his film career as they serve the soup or sign him into a hotel. He is married to a celebrity news anchor. When he checks into a spa retreat in a seaside town otherwise deserted for the winter, he finds a glossy magazine with his face on the cover next to one of the relaxation chairs. The story inside has him talking about his marvelous life, in particular his forthcoming stage debut, with accompanying quotes from his highflying wife. This is the woman who was too busy even to say goodbye before he came here. But the worst of it is that he is there: He has pulled out the play. When it came to it, he was afraid to do something new.
- 9/8/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
There’s a faintly between-worlds air to the coastal luxury spa in which the bulk of “Out of Season” is set: Spartan and depopulated, decorated in assorted shades of oyster white and palest aqua, it’s half sanatorium and half heaven’s gate, made uncannier still by the empty, forbidding sprawl of the wintering beach outside. That makes it an apt place for burnt-out actor Mathieu (Guillaume Canet) to come and consider where his life has led him thus far; it also proves a kind of corridor to the past, minus any actual time travel, when his visit reunites him with Alice (Alba Rohrwacher), a spurned lover from years before. In Stéphane Brizé’s lovely, sorrowful reflection on missed chances and regained connections, their reacquaintance isn’t necessarily permanent, and it doesn’t trigger the love story you might expect — but it’s deeply, searchingly romantic all the same.
Premiering...
Premiering...
- 9/8/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
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