Who shines in combat: Joséphine Japy’s beautiful directorial debut (review)

A story of rare sensitivity on the impact of a child’s genetic disease on her family, in which Mélanie Laurent impresses.

In 2014, in BreatheMélanie Laurent offered Joséphine Japy a character who would change the course of her career. Eleven years later, the roles are reversed. It’s Joséphine Japy’s turn to go behind the camera with a story inspired by her own little sister suffering from a rare genetic disorder (Sarah Pachoud, a breathtaking revelation) and the deflagration that this serious handicap had on her family. And to play the mother of this child, she therefore chose to call on… Mélanie Laurent!

An essential role because the prism through which we experience this story: the way in which this mother on the verge of exhaustion tries to manage what can be managed while her husband, overwhelmed, seems to have chosen to increase the number of overtime hours at the office to avoid confronting reality. A role as exciting as it is jaw-dropping as the contradictory emotional roller coaster emerges at all times that Mélanie Laurent transcends with a virtuosity that is never performative.

But its strongest composition since I’m fine don’t worry would not have the same impact without the perspective of a director who knows her so well and above all makes an exciting debut behind the camera. His ability to transcend such a personal subject, to never let emotion take control without stifling it, proves particularly impressive, as do his lighting choices which give birth to a film that is as organic as it is poetic, through what its different characters feel and experience. The promise of a bright future.

By Joséphine Japy. With Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Pachoud, Angelina Woreth… Duration 1h40. Released December 31, 2025