Autumn is the season for change. It is also the time of reflection, an end to the warm months, and preparation for the bitterness of winter. There is an inherent call to reminisce while reminding ourselves of personal and external atonement. The new François Ozon film When Fall Is Coming provides an intimate examination of people’s lives and spotlights all their mistakes. At the same time, it unfolds as a tight but gripping mystery that plunges into the depths of contemplation. The film takes cues in part as a thriller while walking a fine line between drama and comedy. Tragedy is the defining trait that becomes this film’s raison d’être. Provocative as much as it is heartbreaking, the film crafts a tale of loyalties between family and friends.
Michelle (Hélène Vincent) is an aging grandmother living alone in the French countryside. She enjoys being in the company of her friend Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko) and her retirement. However, her priority is that of her family, particularly her grandson Lucas. Initially, she looks forward to a week’s vacation with her grandson and daughter, Valerie (Ludivine Sagnier). However, when she accidentally serves her daughter poison mushrooms with lunch, the vacation abruptly ends, leaving Michelle dejected. As she sinks into despair and loneliness, she finds solace in Marie-Claude’s son Vincent (Pierre Lottin), who returns home following a stint in prison.
The film’s tension arises from the rift between mother and daughter. From the start, Valerie’s disengaged approach to the vacation and her ultimate food poisoning lead to a permanent breach. She bars Michelle from seeing her grandson, furthering Michelle’s descent into loneliness. Her friend Marie-Claude’s son, Vincent, becomes the story’s disruptor, entering Michelle’s life and providing a needed source of comfort and companionship. Here, the film turns from a dramedy about dysfunction into a thriller that, while never embracing all the tropes, does become a surprisingly gripping tale that displays a personal reflection on life and death.
I’ll avoid full spoilers to preserve the film’s shock and suspense. A tragedy befalls Valerie, putting the family dynamic under the spotlight—the lines between truth and fiction blur. This tragedy becomes the film’s lynchpin, affecting all the characters, especially Michelle. As a mother with a strained relationship with her daughter, she is broken, and now this event remakes her. When Fall Is Coming finds a way to avoid spiraling into depressing territory. As described by his mother, Vincent strives to do right but always does wrong. His actions set up the film’s internal conflict, which is as much about personal choices as it is about the decisions made by others.
His relationship with Michelle will be a source of the film’s discourse; purposefully, matters are left ambiguous. The story works at best as a tight mystery that never reveals enough, but instead focuses on the reactions to these characters and the lives they choose to lead. The elements of a thriller or even a mystery are irrelevant here. In that vein, many films are about the how and why; this story is about the what, as in what happens after.
The film’s subject matter is heavy, but it handles the drama with a light comedic deftness. Its airiness keeps it from becoming sappy and melancholy. The most significant factor for this is Hélène Vincent, who creates an inherently complex character that never becomes overly dramatic or dispiriting. She feels like a living portrait of a woman reckoning with a lifetime of decisions and life’s unfolding trials. She partially dons a mask; we catch glimpses of her true self and are left questioning what is a facade and what is reality.
It is difficult to recommend this film outright, as some viewers may find the lack of coherent tone jarring. It unveils itself through surprise turns, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that is quite stirring when viewed in totality. The film sometimes takes on a surreal quality that changes like the seasons. The arrival of autumn serves as the film’s conclusion and thematic essence. It is meant to capstone lives ending and lives beginning.
The film leaves many questions unanswered, which fuels the central mystery. There is also a time jump at the film’s end, which will either make or break it for audiences, but it addresses a key theme of the story: change, both in terms of seasons and in people’s lives. Autumn is a time for change, as are these characters, for the better and indifferent.
When Fall Is Coming is currently playing in theaters courtesy of Music Box Films.
The film leaves many questions unanswered, which fuels the central mystery. There is also a time jump at the film's end, which will either make or break it for audiences, but it addresses a key theme of the story: change, both in terms of seasons and in people's lives. Autumn is a time for change, as are these characters, for the better and indifferent.
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GVN Rating
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