Malo has separated from his wife and a divorce is in the works. His children leave with his wife on holiday, and he is lonely and depressed. His friend Rémi drags him to a party in the country, and driving back they see by chance a notice of a house being sold at auction by creditors. The low reserve price surprises them and they go round to have a look. Finding the door open, Malo picks up a letter from a little girl to her father saying she misses him - moved by the resonance with his own daughter, Malo accidentally takes the note with him when they leave in a hurry. He then resolves to return the note to the now grown-up little girl Cloé, but of course it's awkward to explain how he got it. He learns that she really doesn't want to sell the house, which is all that remains of her childhood. The relationship between them develops, and emotions run high at the auction. Ultimately the film explores whether Malo can give both or either Cloé and his daughter what they want/need,
Acting
Sergi López's crumpled, wounded everyman is devastating.
Direction
Poirier lets silences do the heavy lifting.
Director
Manuel Poirier
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Bérénice Bejo's last French film before The Artist made her an international star; you can see the same luminous vulnerability.
The French 'viager' property system — buying occupied homes where the seller keeps living there — makes this premise uniquely possible only in France.
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