Café de Flore

Writer-director Jean-Marc Vallee's haunting, metaphysical romantic drama follows two narrative timelines. In 1969 Paris, working-class Jacqueline (French singer-actress Vanessa Paradis) gives birth to a boy with Down syndrome. Fiercely determined to give him as much of a normal, nurturing life as possible, Jacqueline's maternal ardor ultimately turns dangerously possessive. And, in present-day Montreal, an internationally successful DJ named Antoine (Kevin Parent) finds his mind wandering to the heartbroken wife of 20 years he divorced for a sexy blonde fellow member in Alcoholic Anonymous. Seemingly tied together by the titular song—a common French-language ballad—the dual stories and characters are ultimately connected in a manner with supernatural inferences. But the whole bittersweet mise-en-scène, thankfully, never tips into horror/suspense or becomes carried away with f/x, instead offering a mature and wise (if a little male wish-fulfillment-tinged) take on themes of "soulmates" and the limitations of love. Highly recommended. (C. Cassady)