Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

gridoon2018 Catherine Frot and Sandrine Bonnaire are two of the finest French actresses of their respective generations (as a - necessary - sidenote: Frot is in GREAT shape for a woman in her 50s!), and their duel here (literally, in one scene: there is a short fight scene between them) is something worth catching. The film begins with a strong sense of mystery, as the viewer tries to understand the reason behind Frot's obsession with Bonnaire's daughter, but when that reason is revealed, the picture stalls, and the main twist is telegraphed at least 10 minutes before it occurs. It's an elegant and sophisticated film, more of a drama than the thriller its trailer tries to present it as, but too slow for either genre. **1/2 out of 4.

thecatcanwait This is a film where it really is best to know nothing about it beforehand. Don't watch the trailer. Don't read any reviews. (Don't even read this review!) Elsa is going through a sticky divorce. Works as an assistant in a pharmacy. Appears rational, has poise, is a seemingly normal – if depressive – middle-aged suburban mother.But then she spots little girl Lola at a birthday party. Can't take her eyes off her. Has to know about her. Has to get near her somehow. She's obsessed with the girl. As if she's seen a ghost.Is this girl Elsa's dead daughter Lucie reincarnated? (I'm wondering) Hope not. Don't want this film to turn into a supernatural freak out.Is little Lola gonna get pinched? Or her mother bumped off? Hope not. Don't want everything going bananas into psycho slasher melodrama either – Elsa going all crazy bonkers. Keep this restrained Mr Nebou (director), keep it all contained within the realms of plausibility.He does. Even though there's a scene where the 2 nice mothers have a bit of a ding dong (its a good fight too. By "good" i mean some serious hair pulling going on) No knifes come out though.The film sustains suspense throughout, engrossing you (me) with a thrillerish edge of tense dread right to the end.Turns out to be based on a true story. Really? Yep, it can/does happen. This film convinced me.

jotix100 Elsa, a woman grieving for her dead daughter, knows what it must feel when she suddenly realizes she might be living a lie. For all practical purposes, Lucy, her infant daughter, has been dead, and buried. Elsa's estranged husband wants to put the matter to rest and so are her parents. Now living alone with Thomas, her son, she suddenly becomes aware that his school mate, Jeremy, holds the key to solve her great pain in mourning for Lucy.We are asked to follow Elsa, as she tails Claire, the mother of Jeremy, who also has a young daughter, Lola, in whom she discovers a great resemblance of her beloved Lucy. Elsa must gain entrance to Claire's home, which is being sold as the family is moving to Montreal. Elsa appears to be a loose canon in the way she acts, getting as close to the little girl, as she can.The film, directed by Safy Nebbou, which she co-wrote with Cyril Gomez-Mathieu, asks the viewer to look at what it is being shown from the perspective of what appears to be a deranged woman who cannot find solace in the great loss she experienced. That is why, when the action turns in an unexpected and surprising way, we are completely taken aback because in our minds we have been led to view the situation from Claire's side.Catherine Frot keeps amazing with each new appearance. Her Elsa shows a woman at an almost breaking point. Ms. Frot is a welcome presence in anything she plays. In the film she is equally matched by one of the most interesting actresses from France, Sandrine Bonnaire. To her credit, Ms. Bonnaire brings an intensity to all her roles, something that she builds in a performance that is nuanced without gimmick. Wladimir Yordanoff plays Claire's husband. The great Michel Aumont is seen as Elsa's father.This is the first film by M. Nebbou, who according to the IDMb credits has worked in shorts before. The director shows talent and good instincts in the way he gets the audience involved in a film that was based on a real story.

doug-697 This is a movie best enjoyed if you know nothing about it except that it is a fun thriller, so I wouldn't advise reading any reviews before seeing it.At the heart of the film is the premise that there's a special connection between a mother and her child that cannot be denied.The movie is very good at hiding where it's going. At first, you're not sure if you're watching something seamy, then you fear it may be about violence done to a child and finally it's fun to find out where it actually is going. You're not even sure if you're watching a thriller or a drama. It's keeps you on the edgeCatherine Frot is perfect as a woman who lost her newborn baby years ago in a hospital fire and thinks she's found her living with another family. You sympathize with her despite the fact that she may be insane or at least nearing a breakdown and even while you don't know whether her intentions are good or evil.I only have once concern about the movie, and that's the ending. So please don't read this if you haven't seen the movie as I'm about to give the ending away!!!First, I can't believe that finding out one's mother is not one's mother could be as easy on a child as depicted here. This part was done too cavalier and was simply not believable. However, what bothered me more was the very last scene. Forget the practical, legality of the situation depicted in this movie, a child's parents are the parents that raised her in a loving caring way. To see this woman, who had no relationship with the child during her entire life, who may still be in a dubious mental state, then walking alone with her at the end of the film was to say the least creepy. Either this was intended by the makers of the film to have a creepy ending, or it showed some lack of concern for children.Regardless of the ending, this is great fun.