Love Me Tender – Film Review

Director – Anna Cazenave Cambet
Writers – Constance Debré, Anna Cazenave Cambet
Stars – Vicky Krieps. Antoine Reinartz, Monia Chokri

Clémence (Vicky Krieps) and Laurent (Antoine Reinartz) were once married, but are now separated. The couple have settled into an easy-going co-parenting arrangement, taking alternate weeks to care for their son, Paul (Viggo Ferreira-Redier). They remain on friendly terms, and during one of their meetings Clémence tells Laurent that she has started dating women. At first, he seems merely confused or bemused by the news, but he later chooses a very different course of action. The next time Clémence arrives to collect Paul, he refuses to see her, hiding beneath his bedclothes. She leaves the apartment, and this marks the beginning of a devastating chapter in her life, as she is suddenly denied access to her son.

This new drama stars Vicky Krieps, the Luxembourgish actress best known for Phantom Thread (2017), Corsage (2022), and Old (2021).

What is most striking is the apparent ease with which Clémence loses contact with her child. It feels so abrupt and unsettling that you are left wondering how realistic it could possibly be. Tragically, the film is adapted from a semi-autobiographical novel by French author Constance Debré, which means that the story is rooted in lived experience.

Rather than centring on courtroom battles or legal manoeuvring, the film focuses on Clémence’s life in the aftermath of this loss. We encounter the women she dates during this period and witness a handful of fleeting, painfully fragile moments with Paul. The narrative unfolds at a measured pace and occasionally feels somewhat stretched, lingering on the quiet, intimate details of her daily existence.

Vicky Krieps is consistently compelling, and she carries the film with remarkable emotional precision. She conveys Clémence’s intensity, turmoil, and profound inner sadness with a restraint that makes the character’s suffering all the more affecting.