This film is part of Rentals
Custody
Myriam (Drucker) has recently left husband Antoine (Ménochet). She doesn’t want her youngest, Julien (Gioria), to see a father she claims is violent. But the judge rules otherwise, and the boy becomes a pawn in a bitter parental conflict…
Director: Xavier Legrand
Overview
Legrand confirms the promise of his Oscar-nominated short with one of the most impressive feature debuts of recent years. From the first scene, his all-round expertise is immediately apparent in the astute dialogue, the meticulous framing, cutting and pacing, the expressive use of sound, and the superb performances of a uniformly excellent cast. Psychological precision and the skilful building of suspense are foremost among the film’s many virtues, while Legrand makes eloquent use of ambiguity throughout, so that the characters – all prone to contradictory impulses while trying to do their best – remain sympathetic and utterly human, however badly they sometimes behave. Frighteningly credible and, we should remember, all too relevant.
strong threat, language, domestic abuse theme
Related
The Wild Pear Tree The Wild Pear Tree
Drama 2018 189 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
The Chambermaid The Chambermaid
Drama 2018 102 mins Director: Lila Avilés
Lila Avilés provides an engaging, behind-closed-doors look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City’s most luxurious hotels.
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
Winter Sleep Winter Sleep
Drama 2014 197 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Modern master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Celyan’s Palme d’Or winner: an extraordinary, epic drama.
Akenfield Akenfield
Drama 1975 98 mins Director: Peter Hall
Peter Hall’s extraordinary, long-unseen work of sublime poetic realism traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2013 98 mins Director: Ben Rivers and Ben Russell
Visual artists Ben Rivers and Ben Russell’s mesmerising film follows an unnamed character through three phases of alternative existence, from rural commune to a black metal rock concert.
A Woman's Life A Woman's Life
Drama 2016 119 mins Director: Stéphane Brizé
Judith Chemla shines in this Guy de Maupassant adaptation, a tale spanning 20 years of a woman’s life.
Journeyman Journeyman
Drama 2018 92 mins Director: Paddy Considine
Paddy Considine directs and stars with Jodie Whittaker in this emotional knockout - the story of a boxer rebuilding his life after a near-fatal injury.
Reinventing Marvin Reinventing Marvin
Drama 2017 114 mins Director: Anne Fontaine
A young gay man (Finnegan Oldfield ) flourishes under the tutelage of Isabelle Huppert's drama teacher, in this stirring drama from director Anne Fontaine (The Innocents).
Bros: After the Screaming Stops Bros: After the Screaming Stops
Documentary 2018 97 mins Director: David Soutar
Matt and Luke Goss take on the big screen – and each other – in this candid documentary charting the reunion of 80s pop sensations Bros; an affectionate portrait that generates more than a touch of Spinal Tap-esque hilarity.
Nancy Nancy
Drama 2018 86 mins Director: Christina Choe
Andrea Riseborough is extraordinary in this disquieting drama about a woman convinced that she was kidnapped as a child and might have found her real parents.
Two of Us Two of Us
Drama 2019 91 mins Director: Filippo Meneghetti
The love between two older women is threatened by illness and secrecy in a moving French drama that features Barbara Sukowa at her very best.
The Wild Pear Tree The Wild Pear Tree
Drama 2018 189 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
The Chambermaid The Chambermaid
Drama 2018 102 mins Director: Lila Avilés
Lila Avilés provides an engaging, behind-closed-doors look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City’s most luxurious hotels.
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
Crimes of the Future Crimes of the Future
Science Fiction 2022 108 mins Director: David Cronenberg
Cronenberg’s fully-fledged return to body horror and the cinema of transgression.
Wilding Wilding
Documentary 2024 75 mins Director: David Allen
A dying landscape is healed against all odds, going on to thrive in astonishing ways, in this hopeful story of ecological regeneration.