Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) and Juliette
(Kristin Scott Thomas) are sisters. The film begins with Léa,
the younger sister by fifteen years, picking Juliette up at
the airport. We soon realize that the two sisters are almost
complete strangers to each other. Juliette has just been
released from prison after serving a long sentence. Léa was
still a teenager when Juliette, a doctor, was convicted of
the murder of her six-year-old son. Léa contacted Juliette
when she was released and suggested that Juliette come to
live with her. Juliette had no particular desire to see her
sister again.
Luc (Serge Hazanavicius), Léa’s husband, is quite reserved,
almost hostile, about Juliette’s presence under their roof.
Luc and Léa have two adopted Vietnamese daughters, who are 8
and 3 years old. Luc’s father, Papy Paul (Jean-Claude
Arnaud) also lives in the house. He’s a charming old man who
spends all of his time reading since a stroke deprived him
of the power of speech.
Life together isn’t easy to begin
with. Juliette has to relearn certain basics. The world has
moved on and she often seems confused. Although she may seem
cold and distant, her attitude stems more from her being ill
at ease. Helped by some, such as the kindly but tactless
social worker and her open-hearted but depressed parole
officer (Frédéric Pierrot) whose confidante she becomes,
Juliette is also rejected by others, particularly employers
who throw her out as soon as they find out what she did.
Léa’s attitude is ambiguous. She avoids talking about
Juliette’s terrible crime and time in prison at all costs.
She wants nothing to blunt the happiness of their reunion
and getting to know each other again. Luc mentions it
reproachfully, as does Juliette in a different way.
Gradually, the real Juliette emerges. She opens up to the
world once more, thanks to her two nieces, with whom she
becomes very close after being very stiff with them at the
beginning, and Michel (Laurent Grevill), a friend of Léa’s,
and Papy Paul, who, in a more symbolic way, knows what it’s
like to be locked away. Juliette gets a job as a medical
secretary at the local hospital on the condition that she
never mentions she used to be a doctor. Her relationship
with Léa becomes much stronger and more intimate. Even Luc
succeeds in pushing his preconceptions to one side and
seeing Juliette as his sister-in-law, not as a murderer.
But a huge questions hangs over Juliette’s renaissance. Why
did she do such a terrible thing fifteen years ago? For all
the others, it’s a recurrent thought that they dare not put
into words. And for Juliette, locked away in her secret,
it’s a burden to bear, which holds her back from engaging in
her life and believing that she too has the right to be
happy.
© Sony Pictures Classics. All
rights reserved
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