Our Children

Released Aug 2, 2013

1 hr. 51 min.

Drama

List

93%

45 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A doctor brings a boy to Belgium and raises him as his own. When the boy reaches adulthood, he gets married and starts his own family -- but he still relies on the doctor. When trouble strikes his family, the dependence turns into domination.

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Critics Consensus

A wrenching, quietly violent psychodrama, Our Children has the courage to ask difficult questions, and the strength to leave the answers to the viewer.

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Audience Member

This didn't work for me I'm afraid. The lack of sensationalism and the realism should be applauded but I'm sorry the first half is just dull. As the impact on this poor woman starts to show (based on a true event) you're left feeling that the actual beginning and end of the issues were the woman's mental health. The situation she was in, at least depicted here does not explain the crime.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Trivial, & disjointed.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Hard story....harrowing to watch....but exceptionally well conveyed....

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

walter m

There is an old saying that as embracing as family can be, it can also be a trap. With the sobering movie "Our Children," we are given the most extreme example of that possible, beginning with hints of an unspeakable crime that is eventually revealed. For Murielle(Emilie Dequenne), her own family history has been tumultuous before meeting Mounir(Tahar Rahim), as exemplified by her difficult older sister Francoise(Stephane Bissot). Even at the young age of 20, Murielle is ready to settle down with Mounir, even as she is cautioned by Mounir's stepfather Andre(Niels Arestrup) to take her time. She doesn't. Still, this is a family with its warning signs if one is looking for them. Andre is only married to Fatima(Mounia Raoui) so she could get her papers. But otherwise he has no apparent outside social life, as he is invited along to Mounir and Murielle's honeymoon. Mounir has failed his exams, so he has settled down to work in Andre's office.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Joachim Lafosse has always had an extraordinary skill at presenting the most devastating stories in deceptively simple style. The viewer frequently has the feeling of being a sort of "fly on the wall" creating an almost voyeuristic tension. It is as if we have snuck into very intimate moments that whether we like it or not, it creates a disquieting tone -- all too realistic in feeling without any escape. In many ways, the camera's viewpoint pulls the audience into a position of not only caring but feeling helpless as we watch these people unravel. He managed a very similar feat in 2007's quietly intense "Private Property" However, in this brilliant film he explores an intelligent young woman's emotional and mental break which lead her to commit filicide. Along the way the film probes into some very difficult human conflicts in an almost casual way. This is a challenging, thought-provocking film that refuses to hold our hand -- and without ever leaning on obvious cinema ploys or techniques -- the film manages a violent shock. We don't have to see what has happened. And Lafosse is not an artist who holds your hand. This tragedy is all the more tragic because it could have been prevented. Absolutely stunning and transformative performance by Emilie Dequenne. It is a rare example of skill both in front and behind the camera.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As the story gives away its ending at the beginning it needs to have a strong middle part - sadly it doesn't. It merely plods along with its various interludes of extended family relationships across a fair number of years - from this we are supposed to see our female lead descent into despair and madness, but with the long timeframe of the film it just doesn't work, and we are left to fill in the blanks ourselves at to how this really happens. It's a very uneven story.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Joachim Lafosse

Director

Niels Arestrup

André Pinget

Tahar Rahim

Mounir

Émilie Dequenne

Murielle

Baya Belal

Rachida

Stéphane Bissot

Françoise

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Amy Taubin

Film Comment Magazine

Lafosse explores the psychological and political truth beneath the tabloid clichés in a spare but furious attack on patriarchal authority. As tragedy, Our Children is both classical and contemporary.

Aug 27, 2019

Full Review

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

It's well performed and unflinchingly disturbing, raising bold questions about patriarchy, parenting and mental health.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 5, 2017

Full Review

Bill Goodykoontz

Arizona Republic

It's an interesting way to tell a story and a devastating journey, particularly since it's based on a real-life incident.

Rated: 4.5/5

Sep 19, 2013

Full Review

Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

Above all [...] this is Dequenne’s film, and it’s the devastating ways she shows the life gradually being sucked out of Murielle that makes Our Children so difficult to shake off.

Nov 4, 2023

Full Review

Patrick Gamble

CineVue

A brilliantly crafted example of contemporary storytelling, Lafosse's Our Children provides us an unique insight into a chillingly believable tale of scandal and subterfuge without ever succumbing to cheap, manipulative techniques.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 25, 2019

Full Review

Laura Clifford

Reeling Reviews

When the inevitable happens, Lafosse's restraint provokes dread - he's given us a real psychological understanding of the unthinkable.

Rated: B+

Aug 19, 2013

Full Review

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Synopsis

A doctor brings a boy to Belgium and raises him as his own. When the boy reaches adulthood, he gets married and starts his own family -- but he still relies on the doctor. When trouble strikes his family, the dependence turns into domination.

Director: Joachim Lafosse
Screenwriter: Joachim Lafosse, Matthieu Reynaert, Thomas Bidegain
Distributor: Distrib Films
Production Co: RTBF, Box Productions, Versus Production, Les Films du Worso, RTS - Radio Télévision Suisse, Samsa Film, Prime Time
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 2, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 16, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.5K
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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