Ovid.tv Presents AFTER LOVE Film Review — Love and Quarrel

Marie is giving her two daughters, Margaux and Jade, a bath. “I want Papa,” whines Margaux. “It is my day,” her mother replies. Margaux persists: “Papa! I want Papa. Papa, Mommy is being mean.” Marie tries to pull her daughter's face towards her own, but Margaux pulls away. Boris walks in. “I will take over from here,” he says. Marie gets up, quietly dries her hands, and walks out.

After fifteen years, Marie and Boris’s marriage has crumbled. Marie resents Boris and is ready to move on, while he still hopes to work things out. The couple are co-parenting their children in the same home until their divorce is settled, amplifying the emotions that have built up over their marriage.

After Love shows the fragile, intense process of divorce by unfolding personal compromises and the disparity in a family. The couple is tasked with dividing up their friends as well as their assets—all while living and parenting under the same roof. This film highlights the complexities of marriage as the couple fights over finances and are faced with the emotional price of separation.

After Love is a good pick for those who like complicated love stories and who speak French, or don’t mind reading subtitles. The subject matter should appeal to anyone —or all of us— who have either experienced heartbreak, are in relationships or want to be, or those who would like a view of the internal parts of marriage.