FILM REVIEW: "72 minutes of pure, unadulterated joy"

Monday 11 April 2022

Earlier this week Jenny Lambert attended Clameur Du Cinéma’s screening of the 2021 French Fantasy film Petite Maman. She said watching it was an "absolute pleasure".

"Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, who is perhaps best known for the BAFTA nominated Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Petite Maman tells the story of eight-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) and her mother Marion.

"Following the death of her grandmother, we see Nelly travel with her parents to an old house in the woods where they begin the task of clearing away her grandmother’s – and incidentally, her mother’s – past. 

"What transpires after that is probably best described as part ghost story, part fable. 

"As grief and sadness become too much for her mother to bear, she flees, leaving Nelly’s father to clear the house alone. Meanwhile, Nelly goes in search of the trees in which her mother played when she was a child, yearning to learn more about her life.

"What Nelly finds in fact, is an uncannily similar girl of her own age building a fort. The girl, also named Marion (Gabrielle Sanz) invites Nelly to play and eventually leads her back to her house, which bears a remarkable similarity to that of Nelly’s late grandmother’s. 

"'I come from the path behind you', Nelly tells Marion, as she realises that her new friend is somehow her mother, before she was her mother.  

"What follows from then on is pure on-screen joy as we see the girls explore the forest, cook pancakes and simply exist together in unfiltered realness." 

Pictured: You can watch the trailer to Petite Maman online.

"There is something entirely magical about watching Nelly and Marion as they slurp their cereal, giggle about spiling milk, and play make-believe, that had me grinning from ear-to-ear for almost the whole of the film’s duration. 

"I found myself bursting with affection towards the screen as the girls brushed their teeth, smearing toothpaste across their cheeks; ate crisps with crunchy, mouse-like nibbles, and spat soup back into their bowls - perhaps because it is ingrained in us to do everything as quietly and as tidily as possible as we become adults, which is entirely less fun. 

"The film perfectly encapsulates how children are often matter-of-factly funny without even trying. It makes you remember how it felt to be, and yearn to be, a child again at the same time.  And there is an underlying melancholy as Nelly contemplates not only her own sadness, but also her mother’s ('You didn’t invent my sadness') that somehow only makes it that much more lovely overall. 

"Described by the Good Doctor himself Mark Kermode (if you know, you know), as 'sublime', Petite Maman made waves with critics when it was released in late 2021 and has drawn several comparisons to Back to the Future. 

"But unlike Back to the Future, Petite Maman certainly doesn’t have any missions to complete, big secrets to discover or twists to validate its plot.

"Rather, it simply invites you to enjoy its company and to accept its story for what it is. 'Secrets aren’t always things we try to hide', Nelly explains to her friend. 'There’s just no one to tell them to.'

Pictured: Petite Maman is rated 'U' for universal. 

"Visually, the autumn leaves of the forest provide a magically timeless backdrop, while the way in which the two girls express themselves with their entire bodies in a clumsy, eight-year-old way, encapsulates a childlike charm that will resonate with audiences of all ages for years to come. 

"My one critique of Petite Maman is that its 72 minutes running time went by entirely too quickly, but there is something comforting in the knowledge that a quick trip back in time is never far away."

Rated U, Petite Maman is suitable for audiences of all ages. With French subtitles. 

Petite Maman is available on the streaming platform MUBI, or to buy or rent on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. Rated U (Universal).