MOVIE REVIEWS

Review by Lachlan Thiele

EXT. HOW TO MAKE A CANNES MOVIE – NIGHT Homecoming (Le Retour) was my final screening on the second day at Cannes 2023, and I had yet to be blown away by a film, but Homecoming had a premise that interested me. A woman flees her home due to 'tragic circumstances' but returns many years later with her two daughters. This 'circumstance' intrigued me; the film opens with that moment, Kheídidja and her two daughters leave Corsica, but the reason isn't presented to us; this motive was to be developed and revealed over the 2-hour run time. Homecoming's most significant strength is the relationship between the two daughters, Jessica and Farah, and their mother. While I thought this film would be a character piece focusing on Kheídidja' tragic circumstance' for leaving, the film moves on from that very quickly, completely losing focus on the mother and fixating on the coming-of-age tropes for her two daughters. The film isn't about Kheídidja coming to terms with her loss and reason for initially leaving it all behind. Instead, it's about two young adults navigating the island to discover who they are. The trio of actors who play these characters do an excellent job of building a beautiful relationship. However, under that immensely incredible bond is a story that doesn't know where it wants to go. Still, somehow these performers have created something from that mess and formed a believable family dynamic. Remember the first paragraph about the 'tragic circumstance'? Yeah, just like the film, I will entirely skip over it and forget that was the mystery we set up in the first place. Let's talk more about the girls. This review is titled 'How to Make a Cannes Movie' because all the elements are there, French (tick), LGBTQIA+ (tick), minority (tick), and societal issues (tick); all the boxes are there, and it's a stock-standard Coming-of-Age film for Cannes. But no matter, this film had massive strengths but some hard weaknesses. Leaving me with a clean 3.5-star film. Stay for the performances; ignore the plot. FADE OUT.