M, 107 minutes, subtitles
4 Stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
This gentle, relatable relationship drama set in the city of love and romance explores a sadly common situation. A 40-year-old Parisian teacher who spends each working day with other people’s teenage children, comes to quickly realises how much she will miss out on if she doesn’t have a child. Motherhood is desired above all else, but it is slipping out of reach.
The realisation is precipitated when Rachel, played by Belgian-French actor Virginie Efira, falls for Ali (Roschdy Zem) who happens to be sharing custody of his daughter. Little Leila, a moppet played by the enchanting Callie Ferreira-Goncalves, is a charming presence whose toys and drawings fill his apartment even when she isn’t staying over.
It’s an amusingly stark contrast to her beautiful blonde nun in Benedetta
Efira’s Rachel is the picture of wholesome, glowing good health. Even if it is a surprise to see that she has a nicotine habit and deftly rolls her own joints. As a professional, she has a strong empathetic connection with students and colleagues, and on a personal level she is in love with life in the Parisian multicultural milieu. It’s a role in amusingly stark contrast to her beautiful blonde nun in Benedetta.
The biological clock is ticking, however. Veteran filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, makes a surprise cameo as her gynaecologist, a gnomic ‘Dr Wiseman’ who reminds her that she is reaching menopause. While it isn’t exactly too late for her to become pregnant, it could quickly become so.
This gentle reminder sows a seed of doubt into an otherwise happy and fulfilled existence. What’s not to like about her work as a high-school teacher, liked and respected by all, about her intimate, loving connection with her Jewish family, and her personal autonomy as an attractive single woman in Paris?
One evening after the class where she is learning guitar after hours, her flirtation with fellow student, Ali turns into a passionate affair. As Rachel has been apart from her ex-husband for eight years and Ali is separated from Alice (Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Marcello and Catherine Deneuve), neither of them is cheating on anyone. It is interesting to register that their different cultural backgrounds seem incidental and not any impediment to their relationship.
It is little Leila, the daughter of Ali and Alice, and what she represents that may pose the problem. Reminding her father that he wants more children, and his girlfriend that she doesn’t yet have any.
At first, Leila isn’t so keen on the strange woman who shows up and shares Ali’s bed. It is where she likes to go for comfort when nightmares wake her, but Rachel’s presence usurps her place. ‘Why is she always here’, and ‘I want her to go’, the child makes typical demands. Rapprochement with Rachel takes place through sharing her crescent moon comfort pillow.
A weekend away in the Camargue, spotting exotic white horses and pink flamingos, and watching bull rustling, creates a space for Rachel and Leila to get to know each other. They become friends too.
Although the film happens to showcase one of the world’s most popular tourist destination, who can blame it?
Ferreira-Goncalves is a sweetie, but it is Efira’s natural and engaging performance as a mature woman who is facing a point of no return, that is the striking thing about Other People’s Children. Irony of ironies, her younger sister accidentally becomes pregnant during the course of events. Although the pregnancy was a happy accident and she is not sure of the father, she decides to keep her baby, so Rachel becomes an aunt.
There is quite a backstory to this film. Writer-director Rebecca Zlotowski, in her early 40s during the shoot, coincidentally and unexpectedly became pregnant for the very first time. Perhaps it has contributed to the delicacy and sensitivity of this story of a woman facing the possibility of childlessness who discovers at the same time the growing strength of her attachment to her current lover’s adorable child, and the measure of her loss.
Although the emotions unleashed are intense, the mood is low-key, supported by a soundtrack with jazz, blues, classical and contemporary music in the mix. It also happens to showcase one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. You could hardly blame Other People’s Children for being rather self-consciously Parisian. It wants to emphasise the rich and varied life choices that will still beckon if things don’t work out for Rachel the way she wants.
First published in the Canberra Times on 2 July 2023. Jane’s reviews are also published by Rotten Tomatoes