VOD film review: Everything Went Fine
Review Overview
Sophie Marceau
8André Dussollier
8Francois Ozon
8Matthew Turner | On 16, Jul 2022
Director: Francois Ozon
Cast: Sophie Marceau, André Dussollier, Géraldine Pailhas, Charlotte Rampling, Éric Caravaca
Certificate: 15
Director Francois Ozon continues his chameleonic career with yet another genre swerve. Following his queer coming-of-age tale Summer of ’85, his latest film is based on an autobiographical novel by the late novelist Emmanuèle Bernheim, with whom he previously collaborated on Under the Sand, Swimming Pool and 5×2.
Set in present-day France, the film stars Sophie Marceau as Emmanuelle – or Manue – Bernheim, whose 84 year old father Andre (André Dussollier) suffers a stroke that leaves him semi-paralysed. After repeated visits to intensive care, Andre asks Manue to help him end his life by getting him to an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
However, there are complications, because assisted dying is illegal in France, which means that Manue and her younger sister Pascale (Géraldine Pailhas) could face prosecution if they’re caught carrying out their father’s wishes. At the same time, emotional conflicts are stirred up by Andre’s decision, not least because he only asks one of his daughters to help him and not the other.
Given the potentially downbeat nature of the story, Ozon strikes an impressively delicate balance between emotional drama and moments of humour. On that same note, the film becomes almost farcical as complications pile up in the final act, yet Ozon maintains equilibrium throughout. Crucially, he never descends into mawkish sentimentality – it’s impossible to imagine an American remake doing the same thing – and the story is all the more powerful for the characters’ practical approach.
Ozon ensures that the film is packed with memorable little details, such as a perfectly pitched scene where Manue can’t quite bring herself to throw away her father’s uneaten sandwich… and then changes her mind. That, in itself, is a nice encapsulation of the film’s positioning of pragmatism above sentimentality.
The script – adapted by Ozon in collaboration with Philippe Piazzo – is fascinating in the way it trusts the audience to work out key details for themselves, such as the relationship between Andre and a man named Gerard (Grégory Gadebois) and all the things that go unsaid in that regard. To that end, the film rewards close attention, because it’s easy to miss some of the nuances, such as the exact reason why Andre keeps a gun in his desk.
The performances are exceptional. It’s an absolute treat to see Sophie Marceau on screen again and she delivers a quietly compelling performance as a woman trying to remain practical while dealing with her own unresolved issues within their father-daughter relationship (flashbacks give hints as to its complexity). Dussollier is equally good, in part because, like the film itself, he refuses to sentimentalise the character – Andre is a deeply flawed husband and father and neither Dussollier nor Ozon shy away from that fact.
There’s also a terrific cameo from Charlotte Rampling – another of Ozon’s previous collaborators – as Andre’s ex-wife, also suffering with health issues, who makes a stony-faced visit to his bedside and displays no emotion whatsoever.
In short, this is a consistently involving emotional drama that eschews both sentimentality and issue-related hand-wringing in favour of compelling and powerful family dynamics. Tres bon, Ozon.