There are some films which aren’t necessarily the easiest watch, but leave you with a rewarding cinematic experience like none other. Make no mistake, “Custody” is hardly eating your movie vegetables. The new film by Xavier Legrand may break your heart and leave you emotionally drained, but you’ll probably also tell someone to go see it immediately afterward.
Starring Denis Ménochet, Léa Drucker and Thomas Gioria, the premise of the film is straightforward, following the custody battle between two parents for their son. However, the child is hardly protected from the manipulations and machinations of his parents, with a film that Jessica Kiang noted, “makes vivid and visceral the escalating, suffocating all-pervasive terror of domestic abuse in a way few films have managed.” Here’s the official synopsis:
After a bitter divorce, Miriam (Drucker) and Antoine (Ménochet) battle for sole custody of their son, Julien (Gioria). Miriam claims the father is violent but lacks proof. Antoine accuses her of manipulating their son for her own ends. Both sides seem to be hiding something; the truth is buried in deceit and jealousy. When the judge awards joint custody, Julien becomes a pawn in a tense conflict that soon brings the family’s fraught past to light.
Winner of the Silver Lion for best director, “Custody” opens in the UK on April 13th. No word yet on a U.S. debut, though the picture is still doing the festival circuit, having recently played Palm Springs International Film Festival.
