Petite Maman reviewed by Mark Kermode

[@jacob8949]

Such a poignant film, which never feels mawkish or melodramatic, but is steeped in a childlike but somehow universal yearning for honest, human connection. Great visual storytelling also. Love it love it love it. Céline Sciamma is a true master.

[@geosword6]

Just saw this today and I'm not someone who usually watches these kind of movies. Sorry to say, I'm Mr. Mainstream / multiplex. But I loved every second of it. It's like a palate cleanser after all the junk I've watched. In the mainstream stuff, every emotion and action has to be conveyed to the audience in an exaggerated fashion but i liked how here, that just wasn't necessary. The silences when Nelly is thinking things through stood out for me. Like a real person, even though she said nothing, you could see the cogs turning in her mind. No need to explain to us, we can see it. I could go on. The cinematography was brilliant. Had an analogue feel to it especially in the woodland scenes. I need to see more of this type of stuff. Thank you, Mark for setting me off.

[@riagrix]

Absolutely right. Sciamma hasn’t put a foot wrong. Petite Maman is beautiful in its simplicity. The transition with the kitchen wallpaper behind Nelly is just wonderful, I literally felt like shouting out in the cinema when I saw it. The use of complimentary colours, the blues and oranges (the same in Portrait of a lady on fire) is just so, so very good.

[@myvideosareallmyown]

Like Mark, I came out of the film feeling it was pretty much cinematic nirvana! I absolutely loved it, and I’m also a huge fan of Celine Sciamma too. I cannot urge people to go see this film enough! It’s just joyous!

[@nicktalksbond]

Saw this at Odeon’s screen unseen last Monday. Counted 15 people who left within the first 15 minutes, out of a 100 sell out seat screen. Stayed with it and enjoyed it a lot, felt the second half, when everything started to click, was a lot stronger than the first. At 71 minutes it didnt outlive its invitation either. Also noticed the lack of score, which was an interesting choice.

[@LuxDiabolico]

Like in Portrait of a Lady the music is used so little that when it does come on it's even more of an emotional gut punch, Celine Sciamma does this a lot and I love it❤️

[@megamoviez]

Saw this at AFI FEST as well as the film she co wrote called Paris, 13th District. Both are utterly magnificent!

[@seano19]

This is a sublime movie that's really grown on me in the weeks since I first watched it. Celine Sciamma's restraint and lack of mawkishness is remarkablly effective, pulling us into the worlds she creates

[@Animationgatecom]

Saw this at the Odeon on Unseen Cinema event. Alot of people walked out but we genuinely enjoyed it albeit a short film

[@roneteus]

This one just warmed my heart. So beautiful.

[@bartmann81]

Love love love this film and Céline Sciamma

[@niamhm4109]

It was what I needed after lockdown, felt like a very nice warm hug :)

[@Ben_Mdws]

Mark’s film of the year? Place your bets now.

[@peybak]

It sounds like that one Studio Ghibli movie

[@ChowDownDetroit]

When Marnie was There?

[@jblitz1556]

I've been writhing to see this film since maybe...April, and still no luck. This review gets me immeasurably more excited.

[@GuyWithACamera23]

4 minute Kermode gush session. What a shocker!

[@nevik26kram]

I want to watch it soon. But based on the trailer is this kinda like When Marnie Was There the anime movie?

[@timothyw98]

So it's abit like When Marnie was there.

[@user-mk6eg2nz6q]

Just nowhere near as good

[@kipperrepublic2644]

Loved it. The ending was perfect. The happiness washes over you.

[@greatpoochini1]

Lovely review.

[@silvialogan9226]

I think that I might see this film. It looks interesting to watch.

[@cartmoody]

I'm seeing it tomorrow and the midland arts centre and I can not wait.

[@Jack-dk7uu]

They really did this film dirty with the trailer, it looks so insufferable but it’s actually very sweet

[@willhawthorne]

I loved the film and found it very intriguing and moving. However, I did find the scene with the rubber dinghy to be slightly at odds with the rest of the film. I appreciate that the narrative needed a bit of a break from the quiet, tender moments of dialogue, but the change in tone in this scene felt a bit awkward, like it was forcing a kind of 'Rihanna moment' (à la Girlhood) and for me it was quite jarring. I wonder if anyone else thought similarly? Otherwise, it was pitch-perfect from start to to finish.

[@Jack-dk7uu]

I felt exactly the same, and the use of that same music in the trailer was what made me initially sceptical about the film too. I liked how the rest of the film used no music at all (I think?) and wish it hadn’t lapsed for that one scene or, if they had to, that they’d at least got better music.

[@rosspatrick2252]

It's pipped Green Knight as my favourite film of the year so far.

[@niffelac8594]

Sounds a lot like Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai (2018), a film that has made me cry uncontrollably across 3 viewings.

[@girlplanetboy]

The taste this film leaves in the mouth depends wholly on the flavour of one's own childhood.

[@JamiePowellCrazyJay]

I saw it Monday it was good but nothing special, Ghibli did it better

[@johndeereoli]

Just watched this film in an empty cinema, I was very moved by it but I can’t help but think that the two main actors were too flat emotionally, almost like the way actors are in a Yorgos Lanthimos film but maybe this too was done intentionally to make the story more matter of fact and put a point across without telling you how to feel.

[@brrcs]

best film of the year for me along with Drive My Car and Pig

[@OdditiesandRarities]

I didn't like the film, it was the opposite of real, the acting was very odd and robotic. The children spoke in strangely unemotional ways and the story felt quite eery and sinister, with this odd and confusing story about her possibly (or possibly not) meeting her mother (who looks exactly like her for some reason, and has the same story for some unnerving reason). the movie starts with a funeral and her walking down a hospital corridor acting strangely, like a scene from the shining. And then they move to a cabin in the woods (like a hansel and gretal creepy nursery rhime) and she wanders off into the woods and meets someone in the middle of the woods who looks exactly like her (that is seriously creepy), and it turns out this other girl is living almost exactly the same life as her. and it turns out this other girl might be her mother and so maybe this other girl is a ghost she's met in the woods, or a figment of her imagination. And then they end up going to a strange pyramid on a lake for (again) inexplicable reasons, and maybe this was the time machine or flying saucer her friend came from. I don't like all these hanging questions and confusion, the whole thing felt very creepy and unnatural and it felt like there was going to be a jump scare the whole time, I felt uneasy watching it.

[@mattd1659]

It’s funny you say that, I saw the trailer the other day and all I could think while watching it was ‘her friend is a ghost’

[@myvideosareallmyown]

You have completely misunderstood everything about this film, George! It’s such a wonderful piece of World Cinema!

[@OdditiesandRarities]

@@myvideosareallmyown but you have to admit that the acting and story were pretty strange...

[@johndeereoli]

@@OdditiesandRarities I agree, the acting was not good and very unnatural. The only but that was natural was when the girls were making pancakes and I can only assume that’s because they weren’t told what to do and just did it. The acting was so wooden that it stopped me from getting sucked in to the film unfortunately

[@alextroico]

I think exactly the same George, the dialoge was odd and the acting so unnatural and unemotional

[@MikeMJPMUNCH]

I'm glad he liked it so much and if someone else gets enjoyment from it that is also great but I personally I thought that it is one of the most boring films I have seen.

[@myvideosareallmyown]

Wow! You found it boring? It’s 72 minutes! Episodes of many TV shows are longer than this, and you found it boring?! Jeez! Stick to watching GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE then, because a short, joyous gem of French cinema is clearly too taxing for you.

[@QuietBatperson96]

I thought the same about Portrait of a Lady On Fire.

[@bartmann81]

First