L'amour et les forêts

The domestic abuse subgenre has a large range in quality. This one is above average. Passionate performances; excellent supporting cast.

Points penalized for distracting and utterly useless use of twins in the plot. Likewise for black and white thinking- he was not all bad and she was not all good.

Educational and important to instruct women- and men- to recognize themselves in what could be abusive relationships, even though maybe nobody is physically abused, there are plenty of other ways to be abused. Psychological torture can indeed be less tolerable and more painful than a slap in the face.

Other than this highly polished demonstration of the complicated ways abuse can manifest and how easy it can be to forget ourselves within the box we have created with our romantic partners- yes, even you, intelligent that you are- and a startling reminder that even the most moral, normal, people can be hiding the deepest, darkest secrets, there was little in the way of character development. Anything that took place outside the "Us" was not handled well- namely, the twin subplot, which felt more like a gimmick or ploy to mislead the audience into believing it would evolve into a secondary storyline involving some horror aspects or, at the very least, switching places.

Arguably, there was not much more to the two main characters besides this all-consuming relationship to one another- for, as the title says, it was them and only them; over "Us", zero "I". However, it still resulted in a film that leaves audience members wanting and a story that feels unbalanced.

Recommended for its possible selfhelp and societal value, but audiences should not expect too much as far as a rewarding climax or an otherwise fulfilling film.

Fantastic, straightforward film with an intricate portrayal of a psychopath tormenting a strong woman who's found herself in his web. There isn't that much to be said, which is a good thing. The main heroine carries herself with poise and dignity throughout the horrific ordeal, and emerges victorious. This is a disturbing enough thriller, realistic, and without any Hitchcockian ambiguity, being clearly done through a female lens. While fully delivering aesthetically, it would hopefully serve to leave any abuse victim feeling empowered. We need more films to call out such abusers: "petit monsieur".

This one is not the first and not the last film about domestic violence but in my opinion, there can never be too many. The statistics showed this was especially common during Covid, when people stayed at home and their demons grew wilder. However, this one has nothing to do with lockdowns: it methodically and chronologically describes the classical story, and we see all the stages - first lies, feeling discomfort, alienation from social life, apprehension, guilt, desperation, danger, fear of the truth being revealed, guilt again, fear of physical assault, helplessness, panic, terror. Both the film itself and Melville Poupaud and Virginie Efira's acting show us how terrible it can be and that there's a way out of the nightmare the moment you realize you're in danger. In the movie, that happened quite late but hopefully this film will help someone to see the signs and end this horror earlier.

Go out more they said. Meet men they said. Maybe that's not such a great idea after all... Lamoureux is anything but amoureux.

It's very uncomfortable and triggering. Watching the degree to which a woman allows a man to degrade her. And for what, for the love that he once gave her? Which was all clearly staged, a carefully conceived trap.

Peak confidence for a domestic abuser - admit he's an abuser and then blame her for allowing it to happen, for not loving him enough to prevent him from turning into an abuser.

Yeah, cats and wine seem better companions.

Not all men they said. Enough though.

A very serious story that is a brilliant base for the topic of abusive relationships. Any woman, starting at a young age, should understand such things. I think this movie would be great for such a topic. The context of the story perfectly captured the essence of such relationships and what kind of relationships they lead to.

The whole movie had me in suspense. The feeling was mixed with romance that quickly faded away. The good thing is that real happiness was still present. Thanks to such a cocktail of emotions, I was not left indifferent.

Undoubtedly, I would not have experienced such emotions if not for the amazing actors. They perfectly conveyed the necessary emotions. Both fear and anger were in the actors' faces and I still remember these scenes.

In addition to the acting talents, I would like to mention the good musical accompaniment that added color to the context of the scenes. These sounds did not let me forget what abusive behavior is.