Melody, 28 years old, a confused child born under the name X, decides to rent out her body in order to get the money she needs to realize her dream: opening a hair-dressing salon. To do so, she accepts to carry the child of Emily, a rich English woman 48 years old who can no longer have children. To make sure everything goes well and keep an eye on her future child, Emily decides to welcome Melody into her home and stay by her side throughout the pregnancy. Although they first appear to come from completely different worlds, the two women end up adopting each other: Melody finds in Emily the mother she never had, and Emily sees in Melody the daughter she always wanted to have. Evidently, the bonds that emerge during this double maternity create all sorts of doubts and questions.
Acting
Blake and Debay's brittle, tender chemistry carries every scene.
Direction
Bellefroid lets silences scream what dialogue cannot.
Director
Bernard Bellefroid
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Belgian cinema's quiet obsession with transactional intimacy—this is basically the Dardenne brothers' melodramatic cousin.
The swimming pool as womb-within-womb imagery: Melody floats, suspended between two possible lives, never fully belonging to either.
FR
