Hors-Saison (Stéphane Brizé, 2023)

Hors-Saison (Out of Season) is a wonderful  French movie about two former lovers who reconnect after fifteen years apart. 

This occurs when the man from Paris relocates to a wellness hotel in the countryside, which happens to be close to the spot the woman came to live after their separation.

Fifty-something Mathieu (Guillaume Canet) is now a famous actor, while the about ten years younger Alice (Alba Rohrwacher) is a piano teacher. He basically left her after his big movie star breakthrough for an equally famous news anchor, which left her feeling hurt and betrayed.

Still, this is not some sort of revenge movie. Alice, now married to someone else too, is looking for closure, while Mathieu doesn’t mind the distraction, as he has just left the first theater production he was supposed to star in. Something he doesn't dare tell Alice.

The main themes of the movie are fear and desillusion. Claude is afraid his best days are behind him, while Alice hid her talent and abandoned her dreams of becoming a succesfull composer.

Both have some reckoning to do before they will be able to move on.

Director Stéphane Brizé (Un Autre Monde) working from a script he co-wrote with Marie Drucker, keeps proceedings both light and melancholy.

Using a muted color scheme and a wistful score, Brizé gives his leads plenty of time to work through both their own emotions and their feelings for each other.

This leads to some very touching scenes, played by two actors at the top of their game.

The movie is reminiscent of the French classic Un homme et une femme, and even though it doesn't soar quite as high, Hors-Saison still comes highly recommended.

Note: The movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2023 and was released theatrically in France in March of this year. It is now playing the international arthouse circuit, with a theatrical release in The Netherlands on July 11.