Marion Cotillard

Matthias Schoenaerts

Armand Verdure

Céline Sallette

Corinne Masiero

Bouli Lanners

Jean-Michel Correia

Yannick Choirat

Mourad Frarema

Fred Menut

Duncan Versteegh

Katia Chaperon

Catherine Fa

Andès Lopez Jabois

Françoise Michaud

Irina Coito

Yvon L'Allain

Fabien Baïardi

Pascal Rozand

Martine Millar

Océane Cartia

Frédérique Ney

Brigitte Taillandier

Alix Raynaud

Emmanuel Pitois

Mohamed Belhamar

Grégoire Sorlat

Luc Dardenne

Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Jacques Audiard

Alexandre Desplat

Thomas Bidegain

Craig Davidson

Juliette Welfling

Pascal Caucheteux

Michel Barthélémy

Antonin Dedet

Richard Rousseau

Martine Cassinelli

Stéphane Fontaine

Nathalie Vierny

Cédric Fayolle

Stéphane Chollet

Mathieu Le Bothlan

Virginie Montel

Martinus Van Lunen

Eric Blanckaert

Loïc Poës

Xavier Cholet

Yann Megard

Sophie Denize

Roger Arpajou

Julien Poncet de la Grave

Julien Pernes

Boris Piot

Stephane Thibert

Béatrice Bauwens

Frédéric Junqua

Myriam Roger

Isabelle Pannetier

Alice Robert

Drama

Romance

De rouille et d'os

Why Not Productions

Page 114

France 2 Cinéma

Les Films du Fleuve

Lumiere et Lunanime

RTBF

BiM Distribuzione

Optimum Productions

France

Belgium

Italy

United Kingdom

Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts stun in this exceptional drama/romance. 

Driven by intense inner demons, Schoenaerts destroys everything around him, only to build it back up in a gripping climax that nearly had me in tears. 

This was amazing. I have loved everything that I've seen Schoenaerts in and I look forward to exploring more.

CinemaSerf

"Alain" (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a bit of a drifter who must look after his young son "Sam" (Armand Verdure). They head to Antibes where they will live with his sister and where he hopes to get a job. He's no slacker - he's not into drugs or booze and so manages to get a job as a nightclub bouncer. He also augments his income with some bare-knuckle fighting thanks to his manager "Martial" (Bouli Lanners). It's a terrible accident at the local marine park that introduces him to "Stéphanie" (Marion Cotillard). Thanks to this accident she has been left without her lower legs, and slowly the pair begin to bond. He is soon helping her with her mobility and a visit to the beach allows her to swim - a freedom she enjoys. A few prosthetic limbs later and she is much more mobile, a little more content and their relationship starts to become more physical. Ostensibly it's just sex, but as she begins to manage his boxing activities both find the casualness of that relationship isn't maybe what they want for the future. All the while, "Alain" is having to maintain a relationship with his young son and the story rather inconclusively ends in a scenario for that relationship that comes perilously close to disaster. To be honest, not a great deal happens here. It's a gradual development of their characterisation and in that it proves quite engaging. Both of these individuals have their flaws, and it's their burgeoning rapport that is enabling a degree of self-assessment and prioritisation. Cotillard is throughly convincing and her opposite number does all that is required of his less developed, but still pretty poignant role. There is something everyday about this film, the story - though exaggerated for dramatic purposes - does ring true and though one or two of the sub-plots just clutter it up, it's a solid story well told.