OUT OF SEASON
TWO AND A HALF STARS A famous but struggling actor checks into a health spa. An old flame lives in the same town.
DRAMA ROMANCE FRANCE French #OUTOFSEASON
Starring Guillaume Canet, Alba Rohrwacher
Writer/director Stéphane Brizé’s OUT OF SEASON pairs Guillaume Canet as Mathieu, a famous actor on the brink of personal and professional collapse with Alba Rohrwacher as Alice, an old flame now living a small-town life as a piano teacher and mother. A dramatic romance lightly seasoned with 'bon-mots', Brizé's film is mostly a melancholic exploration of lost love and existential uncertainty. You know, the fun stuff.
Mathieu has checked into a wellness spa in Brittany after abandoning a major theatrical role. Grappling with professional and personal dissatisfaction, an unexpected meeting with Alice could well be the tonic he needs. For her, it’s equal parts exciting and unsettling, a reminder of roads not taken. There’s also the thorn of their parting all those years ago. As her husbands says, Mathieu was 'the man before him who left Alice in ruins'.
OUT OF SEASON is intriguing as it explores Mathieu’s vulnerability, a man suffocated by insecurity and public expectation, alongside the counterpoint of Alice grappling with a life shaped by long-heartbreak. They’re both well supported by the film’s visual treatment of a resort town in winter, as cold and closed as Mathieu’s über-stylised hotel or as storm-swept as their rocky relationship: isolation and introspection permeates everything.
But atmosphere will only get you so far. Long, long introspective passages (Mathieu plays with an electronic door, Alice makes dinner) might charm audiences fond of a slow-burn drama but they, along with reflective dialogue and wistful flashbacks, soon become repetitive, bogging down a through-line that teeters on the wearisome.
Nuanced performances from both Canes and Rohrwacher certainly help, they’re both exceedingly compelling, but there’s only so much engagement that they can bring to Mathieu and Alice’s dilemma. Which is not to undermine their heartfelt experience, it’s all very real and very personal, it’s just not very interesting. There’s a reluctance to push boundaries or fully commit to the narrative potential, and that can leave you wanting more.
While OUT OF SEASON hits some poignant emotional and philosophical notes, ultimately they struggle to leave a lasting impression.
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