Jusqu'à la garde

This film will make you uncomfortable in its realism, the scenes with the son and his father have to be seen to understand how outstanding and " life like " their performances are. It is tense and will keep you on the edge of your seat and yet it is no piece of fiction per se but a story taken from real life and rendered in a disturbing and touching way. A good example of the film maker's art with no gimmicks, a real story believably told. Watch it and see.

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.

DOMESTIC TERRORISM, BUT YOU CAN'T LOOK AWAY.

You start with a custody battle and both sides have a different view on how things happened. What really went on, you'll never know but throughout the movie you start to unravel the reasons behind everything. And some questions do get answered. Others don't. But in the end, it ENDS!

This film has no score throughout and that was a perfect choice, since it relies on sound and dialogue a lot. Camerawork is stunning, especially a scene where the father chases the son out of the car into a little park in between apartment buildings.

The best acting comes from Denis Ménochet who plays the father (Antoine) and the young actor Thomas Gioria who plays the son (Julien), especially their interactions in the car are pure GOLD. The tension throughout this film is nerve wracking and you can tell anyone can snap at anytime, you're just waiting for it to happen and you're worried for anyone that's standing too close to be affected by the impact.

Director Xavier Legrand won the Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival in 2017 for directing this film.

I attended a matinee session and everyone was quiet throughout the entire film, until one particular scene. That's when I gasped as well and I noticed fellow moviegoers with their hand on their mouth in shock.

"Jusqu'à la garde" (Custody) is so intense it's too much to bear in the best possible way.

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.