In Peaceful, writer/director Emmanuelle Bercot gives the lion’s share to two giants of the French cinema, Mademoiselle Deneuve and Benoît Magimel. A story within the story: in real life, Catherine Deneuve suffered from a stroke during a scene in a hospital and it took two years for the film to be finished.

There is no term to describe a parent losing a child. However, Deneuve is sensitive and accurate in the role of an overwhelmed mother losing her son in his prime.

As for Benoît Magimel, who won the César for Best Actor in this role in 2020, he displays the spectrum of his talent in this difficult part: Benjamin, a man facing grief, anger, fear, and acceptance before imminent death.

The remaining members of the cast are just as brilliant: the luminous Cécile de France as a nurse falling for Magimel, and Gabriel Sara, an oncologist from New York, playing Benjamin’s doctor and bringing his personal experience in a drama that can seem quite incoherent at times.

 

 

 

Review: Richard Gilles (Paris) is slightly past his prime, but still a vivacious true Parisian spirit. He has worked as a journalist in the spheres of the arts and luxury for the last few decades and is now the happy correspondent for QueerGuru in the City of Lights.