OUR CHILDREN (À PERDRE LA RAISON) World Cinema

Armed with a remarkable team of writers and actors, Joachim Lafosse’s fifth film continues his exploration of family dynamics by detailing when a mother snaps under uncontrollable circumstances. This psychological drama begins with the love story of Murielle, a Belgian schoolteacher, and Mounir, a Moroccan immigrant. The two happily marry and decide to live in the home of Mounir’s adoptive father, Pinget. When the couple begins to have children, the house starts to feel small and suffocating but the couple must remain, as they are financially dependent on Pinget. The pressure to please both men gradually overwhelms Murielle when Mounir begins to control his wife heavily and Pinget micromanages the household, growing domineering with the children. Manipulated and restricted, Murielle is imprisoned in unbearable conditions and a doomed family. Based on the true story of Genevieve Lhermitte, OUR CHILDREN is a claustrophobic nightmare that studies the emotional build up that lead to a mother’s shocking act.