Rating: B+
Dir: Eric Gravel
Star: Laure Calamy, Anne Suarez, Geneviève Mnich, Nolan Arizmendi
a.k.a. À plein temps
I was lured in by Tubi tagging it as a thriller, and this synopsis, “Out of desperation, a single mom turns to neighbors and her own resourcefulness to stay afloat in a ruthless society as her responsibilities pile up,” plus a poster which makes it look like a French cousin to Run Lola Run. It isn’t a thriller, but for once, this is an understandable mistake. This is very much a drama, but uses the style of a thriller, with fast cuts and a throbbing music score, which reminded me of Tangerine Dream. The results generate tension, even when the heroine is doing nothing more intrinsically exciting than trying to come home from work.
Key word: trying. Because fate is conspiring against Julie Roy (Calamy). She’s a single mother, raising two small kids, one of whom may be hyperactive, with an ex who won’t return her calls, never mind pay her child support. Julie lives in the suburbs, but works as chief maid at a five-star hotel in the centre of Paris. She’s on thin ice there, partly because her commute is a nightmare, due to ongoing protests and strikes. Her babysitter, Madame Lusigny (Mnich) is becoming increasingly irate, as Julie gets home later and later. There’s hope, in the shape of an upcoming interview for a better job, but that means affording appropriate attire, and finagling time off work. Can she keep things together long enough to snatch that lifeline?
Not often a film causes a genuine physical reaction in me. The last was probably the sweaty palms resulting from Fall. But by the time this ended after 87 minutes, I was simply exhausted. It’s a relentless barrage of challenges and issues for Julie, who barely has a minute to herself over the entire movie. The closest is probably a few second of peace in the bath, before little son Nolan (Arizmendi) comes in with a demand. This is as relentless as The Raid: Redemption in its cycle of problem, solution, advance and repeat. It’s just that, rather than the problem being an aggressor, it’s everyday life. Finances, cancelled trains, childhood accidents: wave after wave implacably coming at Julie, trying to force her underwater.
Calamy is absolutely plausible and highly compelling in the role, bottling up all her, perfectly understandable, frustrations for 99% of the movie, as the pressure mounts. Indeed there was one moment where I wondered if she was going to give up (and Chris, her expectations were darker still at that point). I was literally holding my breath. Parenting isn’t easy under the best of circumstances, and this work brings home how hard it can become. You’ll leave with a new respect for all single mothers, and the sacrifices they make for their children on an everyday basis. Although it’s not a thriller in the conventional sense, you may well become more acquainted with the edge of the seat than you would expect from a domestic drama.