Sweet Song

2019

1h 40m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

33%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

50%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Paul and Myriam hire Louise, an experienced nanny, to look after their two kids. But as Louise makes herself indispensable to the family, she starts revealing her true self and her behavior becomes more and more unsettling to those around her.

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

A discomfiting character study - and excellent vehicle for Viard - stuck with an ending it can't really handle.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 27, 2020

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

This is crass and exploitative stuff that feels too contrived - despite the child peril, lingering shots of knives and the increasingly demented behaviour of Louise - to build much in the way of real tension.

Rated: 2/5

Jan 12, 2020

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

[A] strained and unsatisfying bad-nanny drama...

Rated: 2/5

Jan 8, 2020

Full Review

Gisela Savdie

El Heraldo

Although the acting is believable, the film does not seem to have a clear orientation towards the main character, leaving a feeling of emptiness after the suspected ending [Full review in Spanish]

Dec 18, 2022

Full Review

Marshall Shaffer

Vague Visages

The film sneaks up on you, just as the character does to Myriam and Paul. By the time Louise's parasitism emerges, it's too late to stop what's coming.

May 2, 2020

Full Review

Robert Denerstein

Denerstein Unleashed

Worse yet, you can't call a movie The Perfect Nanny without tipping your hand.

Apr 3, 2020

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Megan e

This is a good adaptation of the Leila Slimani novel, which was inspired by true events. Good acting. The setting and music are particularly eerie and set up the film well. 3.5 stars

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/04/24

Full Review

Ian W

Strange film. Although the tension builds, it's not exactly edge of your seat stuff. Quite a shocking ending nevertheless.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Liam D

It's both a throwback to 90s thrillers but also a good character study with a terrific performance by Karine Viard

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Strong performances from all concerned; assured direction from Borteleau coupled with Alexis Kavyrchine's keen cinematography and a deft edit from Laurence Briaud. This is a slow-burn, episodic drama. Borleteau's understated wit at the opening, and perpetual parsing of viewpoints — including those of both infants — allows just enough tension to build from, at first, the subtlest of lapses. Fractionally odd reactions evolve into isolated moments of inappropriate behaviour which become, spasmodically but increasingly, bizarre — and Viard is predictably electric, remaining almost po-faced until very close to the finale whilst giving us the truest understanding of the life-giving draw of a stable family for which this single older woman, who has somehow come to lose her own husband and daughter, clearly aches. I have to say, it kept me gripped. I have not read the book (nor researched the original case which took place in New York in 2012), so cannot comment on how faithful this film is to either. But it does seem to me that many Anglophone critics have been unduly harsh, implying an inferior take on classic movie tropes. My palate may be less jaded as I never saw "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" to which many refer; and maybe some post-Me-Too elements of deconstruction just fly over my head? (To be fair, I predict low scores on the Bechdel test.) French reviewers seem largely impressed. I will add that Borteleau has chosen a tale that also reverses certain modern clichés: nanny Louise is neither young nor foreign — a slightly older white woman with surprisingly mid-C20th attitudes toward child-rearing and thrift which unnerve her young, cosmopolitan employers; and this tale unfolds in relentlessly straight sequence — start to finish, with no flashbacks and few jump cuts. We must live it alongside (flitting between) each of the protagonists, and form our own opinion. If you are prepared to take it on its own terms — especially if intrigued by subtle explorations of mental or emotional disturbance — you won't be disappointed.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

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Lucie Borleteau

Director

Karine Viard

Louise

Leïla Bekhti

Myriam

Antoine Reinartz

Paul

Assya Da Silva

Mila

Noëlle Renaude

Sylvie

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Synopsis

Paul and Myriam hire Louise, an experienced nanny, to look after their two kids. But as Louise makes herself indispensable to the family, she starts revealing her true self and her behavior becomes more and more unsettling to those around her.

Director: Lucie Borleteau
Producer: Martine Cassinelli, Nicolas Livecchi
Screenwriter: Lucie Borleteau, Jérémie Elkaïm, Maïwenn, Leïla Slimani
Production Co: Pan Européenne, StudioCanal, Why Not Productions, France 3 Cinéma
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 3, 2020
Runtime: 1h 40m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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