Revoir Paris

CinemaSerf

The English language title for this doesn’t really do it any favours, as it frequently ventures into the harrowing psychological space inhabited by “Mia” (Virginie Efira). She had stopped off on her way home one evening, to shelter from a thunderstorm, only to find herself caught up in a terrorist slaughter in the restaurant. She is injured, but survives - only she has no memory of what happened next. Her husband is a doctor, himself now treading on eggshells and unsure how to help, supportive of her attending self-help groups for the survivors and relatives of the victims. In order to try to rebuild those missing moments, “Mia” begins a painstaking process or reconstructing that evening. Who was sitting where, who was working, who might be able to tell her anything about what she did, or where she went? What information she does get appears conflicting, but fortunately “Thomas” (Benoît Magimel) is on hand to try and help her address not just her immediate issues, but also those that may have been subliminally bubbling under with both of their marriages. Though it does stray a little into melodrama a little towards the end, and there is an unlikely degree of helpful serendipity there too, there is an intensity from the convincing Efira that makes the first hours or so really quite compelling to watch. The intimate style of the photography does a lot of the heavy lifting, complementing some frugal but poignant dialogue and for quite a while we share her visceral sense of need to know.