For a spell, François Ozon’s When Fall Is Coming plays like the type of low-key drama that aims more to comfort viewers than challenge them. Set primarily in a small village in the French countryside, the film treats us to plenty of pretty, bucolic shots of its elderly protagonist, Michelle (Hélène Vincent), going for walks in the woods with her best friend, Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko), picking mushrooms, and preparing meals. Even the tensions between Michelle and her daughter, Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier), given their opaque-to-a-fault nature, can make it seem as if the film is content to keep its cards so close to its chest. This is, at first blush, a film that’s more blandly coy than alluringly mysterious.
But once Marie-Claude’s son, Vincent (Pierre Lotin), returns home from prison and we eventually learn the details of Michelle’s checkered past—and the catalyst for Valérie’s disdain for her mother—When Fall Is Coming reveals itself to be a bit more than meets the eye. Unspooling into a gentle, compassionate examination of the emotional and psychological toll that comes from nursing so much resentment, regret, and grief, Ozon’s film gradually unearths the humanity of its imperfect characters, challenging our initial preconceptions of them as it delves into the knotty, messy nature of their relationships.
Where Valérie’s treatment of her mother at first seems needlessly cruel and selfish, her impatience and mistrust becomes more understandable, as Michelle’s decisions indirectly left Valérie with childhood wounds that misshaped her adult life. Similarly, the reasons for Marie-Claude’s distrust of Vincent and her anger at Michelle for giving him money to start a new business are given clarity as the film proceeds. And if these revelations don’t feel like rug-pulls, it’s because of how organically they’re weaved into the narrative, deepening our understanding of profoundly conflicted people who are trying to make the best of their lives.
Still, while When Fall Is Coming is compelling when homing in on its characters’ psychological states, it eventually indulges the hustle and bustle of big narrative events, undermining its initially naturalistic tendencies and increasingly feeling contrived and schematic. It’s clear that the Ozon wants to inject elements of the thriller, murder mystery, and policier into the proceedings, but the half-hearted gestures to these genres leave the film in a no-genre zone of sorts. Ultimately, When Fall Is Coming is neither riveting or mysterious enough to work as a genre film nor grounded enough to stay true to its roots as a character-driven drama.
Fortunately, through all the film’s highs and lows, the richness of Vincent’s performance remains a constant. She lends Michelle an uncommon gracefulness, especially in the character’s handling of her young grandson (Garlan Erlos) as he’s forced to confront her past and the ways his mother dealt with it. Throughout, Vincent’s carefully calibrated turn holds this uneven film together, as she subtly captures the lingering pain that plagues Michelle, along with her quiet perseverance and undying hope for reconciliation and happiness in the future.
If only Ozon had more faith in Vincent to fully anchor the film and pared back the narrative contrivances and cluttered plotting that dot his and Philippe Piazzo’s script, disrupting its intimate human drama, then When Fall Is Coming could have better crystallized Michelle’s contradictions and internal struggles. As it stands, the film is a bit too muddled to bring Michelle fully into focus, despite Vincent’s best efforts to do so.
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