Jusqu'à la garde

This movie gives u the real full experience of abusive person . Every detail gives u what is a normal family deals with every day every hour every second the acting in this movie is brilliant the writing is amazing like who writes this know what is feels like to be in that environment . the cinema photography is overwhelming

Such heavy dark feeling u get after seeing this movie tells u how good the movie was to deliver it to you ,

Denis Menochet, best known to American audiences as the French farmer in the introductory scene of Inglorious Bastards, gives a riveting and horrifying performance as an abusive husband and father separated from his wife and vying for joint custody. This is essentially a horror film, where the tightly wound father and husband is no less fearsom than a monster or killer.

When a couple divorce, during the hearing the judge allows visitation rights to the father (Denis Ménochet) to their 11 year-old son, Julien (Thomas Gioria) at weekends. In the following weeks, the boy is relucatant to be with his father and is wary of him, as his mother (Léa Drucker). In time the situation deteriorates further with any trust eroding.

A slow burner of a drama that leads to an intense and dramatic end with some simmering performances, especially from Ménochet. The camera keeps up close and intimately with the characters, adding to its intensity. The opening, lengthy hearing scene is smart as it gives the legal analysis, but not the emotional one while the emotional one unfolds as the film develops.

This is an intense film. Especially if you grew up with divorced parents. Everything's truthful. I didn't expect the film to turn into a thriller since it started like a social drama ala Ken Loach. The last part feels like a Hitchcock film sometimes. The cast did a great job, especially the little kid.

The French writer/director Xavier Legrand was nominated for the Oscar for Best Live Action Short for 2014 with his film "Just Before Losing Everything". This film was about a mother and her children who are fleeing a violent and abusive husband…and it sure packed an emotional wallop. Amazingly, Legrand is back with the same family… and a full-length follow up to the previous film…and it's even better! A reason to watch this is because the most intense, heart- wrenching and well directed 15 minutes make up the final portion of the film…and I could hear folks crying, gasping and calling out as well!!

The film begins with a custody hearing. The judge is listening to the evidence and it's difficult to really know what's going on with the family. Is the father an abusive monster who doesn't deserve to have custody of his 11 year-old son? Or, is the child right when he says he never wishes to have contact with the man again…and he's afraid of the man? Regardless, the judge decides to award joint custody to the father and mother. Inexplicably, the visits with the possibly violent father are unsupervised…and the audience has no idea what's going to happen next. Needless to say…really bad things are going to happen and soon!

The first half of this movie is good…but not amazing. It's all important as set up for the final portion and I cannot say enough about how well all this comes together at the end. Not a film for the faint of heart, but a blood-pumping, Adrenalin-inducing masterful film that could easily be a strong candidate for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. If it's not at least nominated, I'd be very surprised.