The opening film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, director Arnaud Desplechin’s latest follows a filmmaker whose life is turned upside down when a former lover who had disappeared without trace some two decades previous, suddenly reappears.

Ismael (Mathieu Amalric) is a film director who describes himself as a widower. About to start shooting his new film, he is still grieving the loss of his young wife Carlotta (Marion Cotillard) who disappeared mysteriously twenty years prior. Now romantically involved with Sylvia (Charlotte Gainsbourg), an astrophysicist who fascinates him, their lives are sent into a tailspin when Carlotta returns unannounced. And when subsequently Sylvia attempts to leave, Ismael must choose between the two in order to find an ending to the story.

One of France’s leading contemporary directors Arnaud Desplechin (My Golden Days) continues to fascinate with his unique cinematic style in this sophisticated, surprising film that proves a great showcase for its exemplary cast.

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