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Bright Days Ahead

Play trailer Poster for Bright Days Ahead Released Apr 25, 2014 1h 34m Romance Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 24 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A married dentist (Fanny Ardant) who has been forced into early retirement has an affair with a much-younger computer instructor (Laurent Lafitte).

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Bright Days Ahead

Critics Reviews

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Geoffrey Macnab Independent (UK) This engaging French comedy has Fanny Ardant in Mrs Robinson mode as an improbably glamorous retired dentist who has an affair with a younger man. Rated: 3/5 Jun 20, 2014 Full Review Leslie Felperin Guardian To the film's credit, no one finds the age gap that scandalous, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter. These are people at very different places in life. Rated: 3/5 Jun 19, 2014 Full Review Nigel Andrews Financial Times Don't hold your breath, or your heart: it's not exactly Brief Encounter. But Ardant has the moves. It's the younger cast members who must struggle to keep up. Rated: 3/5 Jun 19, 2014 Full Review Sarah Brinks Battleship Pretension I think Bright Days Ahead will resonate with people who are nearing or in retirement, but people of all ages can appreciate it as a good film with a good story and strong acting. Mar 4, 2021 Full Review Edward Frost CineVue Bright Days Ahead is a likable piece offering reassurance that life begins, rather than ends, at sixty. Rated: 3/5 Mar 26, 2019 Full Review Jon Lyus HeyUGuys Bright Days Ahead is a fitting title for a story about one woman's transition at a turning point of her life where time is no longer her enemy, but her anchor. Rated: 4/5 Jun 20, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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KinoOko Z Moving story. Nothing new, simple with few details. What captured my attention is her drive to be engaged again, to feel younger. To have passionate sex, not to fear to have cigarette, to have that wind in the hair again. Maybe last time. Do all orders know what I am talking about? The beach shots are beautiful. Acting excellent. Should I have an cigarette? Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/23/25 Full Review Laurent M Fanny Ardant...toujours aussi belle...une histoire simple...douce...de tous les jours...que j'aurais aimé vivre... Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/17/24 Full Review Audience Member Age: Quest for meaning:/ So menacing it's funny/That sex with a boy. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Another recent one off the telly. I like the idea of a 'youth club' for oldies, and it enables a broader sweep of portraits to be painted. Fanny Ardant is great as the sixty-year-old having an affair with the forty-year-old computer tutor - very sexy. She would have been sixty-four when the film was shot, impressive. It's sensitively done, and is well resolved. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member (37%) A typically French drama looking at an adulterous relationship between a recently retired dentist and her quite a lot younger computer teacher boyfriend. There's plenty of French realism here that's sort of like what a TV soap opera would be like if they were not so poorly made. While the plot is hugely simplistic to the point in which this could have been a 30 minute short and still had the exact same sort of impact. But the performances are decent enough, and there's not a huge amount of romantic movies out there about people in and out of love at the later stages of life. Maybe worth a look for French cinema fans, but I'm certainly never going to watch it again. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A gritty, but not spectacular representation of a love affair between the ages, in a gritty northern France location. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Bright Days Ahead

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Cast & Crew

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Marion Vernoux

Director

Fanny Ardant

Caroline

Laurent Lafitte

Julien

Patrick Chesnais

Philippe

Jean-François Stévenin

Roger

Fanny Cottençon

Chantal

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Bright Days Ahead

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Movie Info

Synopsis A married dentist (Fanny Ardant) who has been forced into early retirement has an affair with a much-younger computer instructor (Laurent Lafitte).
Director
Marion Vernoux
Producer
François Kraus, Denis Pineau-Valencienne, Juliette Favreul Renaud
Screenwriter
Marion Vernoux, Fanny Chesnel, Fanny Chesnel
Distributor
Tribeca Film
Production Co
Les Films du Kiosque, Direct Cinéma, 27.11 Production
Genre
Romance, Comedy, Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 25, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 17, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$9.1K
Runtime
1h 34m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.66:1)
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