My first film of 2020, and it turns out to be a doozy! Going into it, I knew nothing about it, other than there had been a largely positive critical response. It turns out that is the best way to approach the film, so I will try to avoid spoilers in my review.
It starts out as a very gentle light drama. In Paris, a young man, David (Vincent Lacoste), is drifting through life with no real responsibilities. His sister, Sandrine (Ophélia Kolb), is a single mother, with a 7 year old daughter, the titular Amanda (Isaure Multrier). When a dramatic event brings David and Amanda closer together, he finds his life changed in a profound way.
I found this to be the sort of film that slowly got under my skin. The light-hearted tone of the first act didn’t prepare me for the emotional punch that was to follow. Lacoste gives an excellent performance, making all of David’s choices and his gradual transformation into a more mature person very believable. Multrier is astonishingly good for someone so young, her expressive face giving her the ability to deliver a wide range of emotions, and never in an overly coached stage school way.
Director, and co writer Mikhael Hers somehow keeps a light tone, even in traumatic scenes, and makes a number of good choices when shying away from showing unnecessarily graphic imagery. Anton Sanko also provides a gorgeous score and Sebastian Buchmann’s cinematography must be commended.
Whilst I liked the low key ending, my only real gripe is in the moments leading up to that. The decision to relocate the action to London does not add anything. The unrealistic portrayal of the Wimbledon tennis tournament – the setting was clearly not centre court as described, and one of the players had dark blue shorts for goodness sake – was jarring for even a non tennis fan like myself.
That minor criticism aside, this is a beautifully told tale.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10