After a tumultuous life in Paris, Michelle (Hélène Vincent) has retired to a quiet existence in Burgundy, tending her garden and attending services at her parish. The voracious hostility of her adult daughter Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier) remains Michelle’s great puzzlement: how can a child for whom she sacrificed so much treat her with such contempt and suspicion? When Valérie drops off her son for a week with his grandmother, Michelle sees an opportunity to repair the relationship, but a culinary accident soon undercuts whatever trust remains. With the help of her best friend Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko), whose son (Pierre Lottin) has recently been released from prison, Michelle plots a path towards restoring the family life so long denied her. With a deceptively placid surface, master stylist François Ozon cooks up a twisty and destabilizing thriller where family ties remain the most mysterious ingredient of all.
Official Selection
Toronto International Film Festival 2024
Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance
San Sebastian International Film Festival 2024
“A darkly funny French drama worth savoring”
Leslie Felperin
The Hollywood Reporter
“Nobody is exactly who they appear to be in When Fall is Coming, but Ozon’s nimble, perceptive little film takes that as a given: When winter and mortality are beckoning, the past only counts for so much.”
Guy Lodge
Variety
