Lately I’ve been watching more and more French films. They seem to have a different sensibility than American films do. I have noticed that they are more small, intimate, and character studies than big bombastic action films and so forth. That’s the case with When Fall Is Coming. It takes place in a small town in France, called Burgundy. This story is a little more complex and bigger, the town it takes place in, though.

Michelle (Helene Vincent) is an older woman who picks mushrooms with her best friend Marie-Claude (Jodiane Balasko) in the woods adjacent to her home. She gets a visit from her daughter Valerie (Ludvine Sagnier) and grandson Lucas (Garlan Erlos). She loves seeing her grandson,  but his mother has altered motives for going there. The mother/grandmother decides to make a nice dinner for the pair and her best friend’s son, Vincent (Pierre Lottin), who recently got out of prison. After dinner, something unexpected happens, which causes a falling out among these family members.   

This movie has a vibe of a play. With characters entering and leaving the screen giving information and doing/saying things that move the story forward. There is a dinner table that serves as the main place where characters meet, but there are other locations where the film takes place. Mostly in the small town, though. There is also an Agatha Christie type mystery at the forefront of this movie. That’s where it gets interesting in the end.

The key piece in this story that is like the glue that puts it all together is the Lottin character. He’s a bit aloof but has a friendly demeanor.  It’s hard not to like him, and the main character in the film is drawn to him and asks him to help her in her garden and around her yard. He helps her quite a bit in the context of the story. As an actor, I could give or take him. He didn’t do much for me in terms of acting.

There is a feel of multiple movies in this one. There is a little bit of The Phantom Thread mixed with Anatomy of a Fall and a little of Afred Hitchcock thrown in for good measure. The mix of all of these films and filmmakers’ styles does the movie justice. This film benefits from all of these things. It has a great mix that makes it a more interesting story overall. I am sick of filmmakers copying other plot devices and filmmaking styles, but here, it works in favor of the movie.

With any foreign film, you have subtitles that are on screen that translate the dialogue to the viewers. The subtitles weren’t as easy to read as other films I’ve seen. They tend to move a little quickethanen I’d like them to have, but I’ve seen worse over the years. These aren’t the best either. They didn’t take me out of the film like fast or smaller subtitles would. For those who don’t like subtitles, they may be turned away from this movie because of it. Hopefully, they won’t, though, because this film deserves to have as many eyes on it as possible. 

“When Fall Is Coming”  is a solid foreign language mystery film that mimics some filmmaking styles and plot threads from other movies from the past.  The cast is solid, with Helene Vincent being a surprisingly good leading lady.  Lottin was hard to peg down, but he added an interesting element that made everything fit together. The small town location and small cast gave the film the feeling of a play which it benefited from. The small indie foreign film feel is  what this movie needed to succeed. 

3 1/2 stars

Dan Skip Allen