This film could be considered the French version of the Oscar-winning
Spotlight (2015). That film by Tom McCarthy was about people investigating and ultimately exposing the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. It was about learning the truth about how there were priests who where pedophiles and sexually assaulting or raping boys. It was about letting the world and the authorities know what was happening and getting justice for the victims. This film, written and directed by François Ozon, does the same thing. The difference is that instead of Boston, this film is set in Lyon, which is the third-largest city in France and about five hours south of Paris. Also, instead of focusing on the journalists who uncovered the scandal in Boston, this film centers on the three victims who spearheaded things in France.
Melvil Poupaud (
Laurence Anyways and
Time to Leave) stars as Alexandre Guérin, a 40-year-old married man who has five children, four sons and one daughter. He works for a large bank and does a lot of business all over the country. His wife works as a teacher at a local school. One day, a fellow parent at the school told him that they went to summer camp together, a summer camp that was run by the local Catholic Church called Saint Luc. Yet, the fellow parent asked Alexandre, if one of the priests there had molested him. This triggers Alexandre to admit that he was molested. This also triggers him to start writing letters or emails to Saint Luc and to the Cardinal who is currently running the church.
That Cardinal is Phillippe Barbarin. In 2017, Barbarin was charged with covering-up the child sex abuse allegedly committed by a priest at his church. That priest in question was Bernard Preynat, an admitted pedophile who would molest boy scouts that he supervised during summer camps from 1986 to 1991. This is based on the victims who came forward. The film is mainly about the struggle of those victims to come forward and tell their stories. What's shocking is that the crimes were known at the time, but, there are reasons that those crimes took 30 years to come to light. This film explores those reasons and how the victims make the choice to come to light after all that time.
Pictured above, Denis Ménochet (
In the House and
Inglourious Basterds) co-stars as François Debord, another man around the same age as Alexandre but who never met Alexandre. He's married with children as well. Yet, he's revealed to have been molested by Preynat. He reported what happened and his parents went to the church. They were told that it was handled, but François is shocked to learn 30 years later, his molester is still working with children. He decides not to go back to the church and instead go to the police and to the press.
Swann Arlaud plays Emmanuel Thomassin, a man who isn't married. He does have a girlfriend, but he has more emotional problems than Alexandre and François. He's also epileptic. He has lasting trauma from being molested by Preynat, but his trauma is more outward and has been more debilitating. Yet, he is the most resistant to come forward and tell his story than the others. He's more of the last holdout. He's also the most resentful toward his mother whom didn't go to the church and report the crime when Emmanuel told her.
Ozon lays out what each of these men go through with such detail and deliberate pace. He really does the most he can to put us in the shoes and the heads of each of the victims. He starts with a lot of voice-over. It's not voice-over narration. It's Alexandre reading the text of his letters and emails to the church. He later pivots to simply putting us in the point-of-view of each of the victims. We're following Alexandre first. Ozon's camera seemingly forgets about Alexandre and then we're following François. Finally, Ozon seemingly forgets about François and then we're following Emmanuel. Ozon at the same time takes us methodically through the three years leading up to the charging of Cardinal Barbarin and arrest of Father Preynat.
Each of the victims gets a moment where they have to share their stories. Each actor in that moment is incredible and heartbreaking as they relate their stories of abuse. Those moments are probably when the film is its strongest. Yet, the performances from everyone in the cast are what make this film what it is. Without hitting us over the head, the film does end with a question of whether or not one should keep their faith in either God or the church, which I think is a potent and important question to end things here.
Not Rated but for mature audiences.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 17 mins.
Available on DVD and VOD.
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