20/05/2025 - CANNES 2025: Vicky Krieps showcases her talent in a poignant and edifying film by Anna Cazenave Cambet about a mother’s struggle against a miscarriage of justice which has deprived her of her son

"It’s really common. What’s less common is that, usually, it’s the other way around - it’s the fathers who take off - and some people might see this as worse, unforgiveable." In Love Me Tender, which was presented in the Un Certain Regard section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, French filmmaker Anna Cazenave Cambet chooses to home in on a vicious kind of affective revenge, and the brutal legal system which a mother seeking freedom is subsequently subjected to, in her second feature film (after Gold for Dogs [+see also:
trailer
film profile], awarded the Critics’ Week label in 2020) which has been adapted from Constante Debré’s eponymous novel. It’s a detailed story unfolding across several years, displaying plenty of narrative skill and a keen talent for capturing the emotions of a complex, practically divorced woman who must now stoically combine a new homosexual love life and her job as a writer with an unrelenting defensive fight simply to be what she’s never stopped being: a mother.

"He’s asking for sole custody and for the removal of my parental authority. He’s accusing me of incest and either direct or third-party paedophilia." It’s a huge shock for Clémence (an exceptional Vicky Krieps, who carries the entire film on her shoulders). She finally understands why her eight-year-old son, Paul (Viggo Ferreira-Redier), has been refusing to see her for some months and why her husband, Laurent (Antoine Reinartz), from whom she separated three years earlier after 20 years of life together and with whom she’s since enjoyed a cordial relationship (involving problem-free shared custody of their child) has suddenly cut off all communication with her. The tipping point was a dinner on a Parisian terrace where she revealed to Laurent that she’d "moved on to women". Thus begins an onerous uphill battle which proves emotionally exhausting for Clémence, because "the law is the law, but it doesn’t seem right". And she’ll have to wait 18 months from when the case begins for the report by the psychiatrist - hired by the judge to evaluate each of the parties - to rule that: "homosexual relations cannot be considered a sign of psychological instability in this day and age." In the meantime, Clémence tries her best to live her life as a woman, while only being allowed to see her son for one hour every 15 days (if things go well) in a designated meeting area with child specialists present. But there’s still an appeal judgement to contend with, not to mention the vile, insatiable anger of a man who’s abusing his role as a father…

Crafted around a voice-over reading out extracts from the novel, Love Me Tender methodically recounts the many stages of this unremitting ordeal to which our multi-faceted protagonist is subjected, perfectly juggling intense sequence shots which scrutinise the characters’ faces (special mention should go to director of photography Kristy Baboul), an array of seamless ellipses (in order to cover the full duration of the story) and an incredibly rich variety of décors and secondary characters; a combination of qualities which make the movie as compelling as it is cruelly edifying.

Love Me Tender was produced by Novoprod Cinéma in co-production with France 2 Cinéma. Be For Films are steering international sales.

(Translated from French)