I think this was the best independent/foreign/art-house film of 2008. I was not too familiar with Kristen Scott-Thomas before watching this, only knowing she was a Hollywood actress. She really made her role her own in this film, and her performance in French was very convincing and precise. Of course, there are subtitles, but the entire film is in French. This doesn't matter in the least, because the raw emotions are the same in any language and you see souls and hearts break in pieces. It's not a jaunty, happy little film by any means. The storyline unfolds throughout, but the jist of it without giving too much away is the Scott-Thomas's character has just been released from a long prison sentence and is trying to rebuild her life. She was sent down for killing her own son. What on earth could possess her to do this? As she begins to warm up and open up, we find out, and we see the sheer, unadulterated pain and grief of a loving mother, which time never heals. A compelling, moving film which I couldn't recommend more.
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