Our Loved Ones (2015) User Reviews

Poignant and Resonant Meditation on Power of Depression

[Blue-Grotto · 8/10 · 20 March 2016]

A kiss on top of a frozen lake is a spark from which a Quebecois family begins. In the ensuing decades of love and loss the family has a beautiful home, a puppet workshop that is as profitable as it is fulfilling, a white cedar grove to walk through and everything needed to be happy. Yet there is a shadow cast over them. The sensitive, kind and talented family patriarch, David, struggles with depression. His daughter Laurence, as sensitive and artistically gifted as her father, is just as prone to dark thoughts. The specter haunts and controls David and Laurence even as it fuels their artistic prowess. It does so with unseen and perhaps unknowable strings.

The film's theme is poignant and resonant. The main actor, Maxim Gaudette, is a wonder to behold. Some of his support is not so great, yet they are not so distracting. Director Anne Emond presents the story in a novel way. She sometimes, for instance, plays uplifting music at sad events. The contrast in moods creates a weird feeling. In afterthought it was a good way to dramatize the events of the story without dwelling in them. The story took turns I didn't expect and it came together quite well. Seen at the 2016 Miami International Film Festival.

Addressing family depression

[gizmomogwai · 7/10 · 4 April 2016]

Maxim Gaudette, who starred in Canada's astounding film of 2010, Incendies, appears this time in the Quebecois drama Our Loved Ones, which was also nominated for Best Motion Picture at the Canadian Screen Awards. Our Loved Ones is a slightly different offering, and will not appeal to every taste. It is very slow moving, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and is competent in its writing, acting and directing, though not breathtakingly imaginative.

Our Loved Ones is a story of depression in a family, with David and his family coping with the death of a father, which he is told only later was actually a suicide. He inherits his dad's tools and finds an unusual career, making marionettes, which he soon shares with his own family, including daughter Laurence. Depression may run in the family, as David also kills himself. It's a bit perplexing why, as he seems to have made a good life for himself (indeed, there's little conflict in the film for its first 40 minutes). But I think, the lack of explanation was entirely intentional. I don't know how memorable Our Loved Ones will be a few years down the road, but it is worth checking out.

Mélancolie

[sergelamarche · 7/10 · 17 March 2018]

Film de longue haleine avec la mélancolie comme thème. Des gens choyés affectivement semblent avoir des problèmes de mélancolie, d'origine génétique peut-être. Ou est-ce la monotonie qui fait perdre le goût de continuer. À mon avis, ce n'est pas bien démontré et j'ai de la difficulté à croire à cette mélancolie, mais le film tient la route quand même.

A father's downfall

[olcayozfirat · 6/10 · 6 October 2022]

French drama film made in 2015. In the movie, there is a man whose father committed suicide at a young age, but whose death is described to him as a heart attack. This man is getting married while continuing his paternal legacy of puppet making. As a lively person, they have a daughter. Later, a son is born. As her daughter grows, she distances herself from him. The man's life begins to pass with concern for his daughter. He fights with his own brother because of his brother's irresponsibility. Although his mood begins to deteriorate, he does not show it to his wife and son. When his daughter comes to college, things get better again, and the man actually goes out to commit suicide from the house he left for hunting. He leaves behind an unknown secret and sadness for his family. Although the movie progresses quite slowly, it is sad with suicide. Maxim Gaudette's transition from youth to maturity is quite beautiful.

There is a scene of nudity and sexuality in the movie.