French Film Festival- A Silence

The remarkable Emmanuelle Devos and Daniel Auteuil - two of France’s finest and most awarded actors – are at the very top of their game in the gripping and provocative new drama from acclaimed writer/director Joachim Lafosse, the story of a married couple and their adopted son who grapple with the fallout after a long-held family secret is exposed. Cocooned in a life of privilege, 50-something Astrid Schaar (Devos) is the wife of the suave François (Auteuil), a prominent and media-savvy lawyer approaching a crucial point in his years-long, high profile case, in which he represents the parents of several abducted children. Day and night, reporters wait outside their gated home, hoping to snap a photo and secure François’ latest remarks. But the uneasy equilibrium of the household erodes when a figure from the family’s past returns, initiating their own search for justice… Sharply scripted, expertly directed and dominated by performances of complexity and gravitas from Devos and Auteuil, A SILENCE - inspired by true events that shocked France and Belgium - is a disquieting exploration of family duty, complicity and coercive control; as the screws tighten and the characters steel themselves for the repercussions of their actions, it’s impossible to look away.