(+ THE RIVER)
THREE FRIENDS (Trois amies)
North American Premiere | France | 2024 | Drama, Romance, Comedy | 117 min | In French with English subtitles
Joan has fallen out of love with Victor, her long-time partner and father of their seven-year-old daughter. Anguished over that turn of events, she doesn't know what to do. Her best friend, Alice, finds the situation totally normal — all relationships run out of steam. That's why Alice has opted for the safety of a man who adores her, but she's less rapturous about. Because being in love only makes you crazy and insecure. However, unbeknownst to Alice, her boyfriend is having an affair with their mutual friend, Rebecca, the seemingly more free-spirited and adventurous of the three friends. Once again, Emmanuel Mouret presents us with a very Rohmeresque/Allenesque set-up — think My Girlfriend's Boyfriend or Hannah and Her Sisters — once again, juxtaposing fidelity and duplicity, passion and companionship, trust and possessiveness... in a philosophical attempt to grasp that elusive conundrum called love. All three female leads are pitch-perfect, yet it's the ever-beguiling Vincent Macaigne who both steals our hearts and perhaps offers the sagest of counsel to the lovelorn.
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