When Autumn Falls (15)

For all its darkness and drama the mood of François Ozon’s crime thriller is calm and restrained. In a picturesque Burgundy village, Michelle (81-year-old Hélène Vincent) is enjoying what looks like blissful rural retirement close to her old friend Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko). But tensions between Michelle and her hostile, permanently angry daughter and the return of Marie-Claude’s scoundrel son from prison begin to cause trouble. The film steadily picks apart the bucolic idyll of Michelle’s golden years, sliding in the process from ambling character study to cool-blooded thriller in the spirit of Simenon. The film succeeds as an empathetic psychological portrait, a feminist drama and an anti-ageism statement — all executed with subtlety, craft and wit.