“Your past is exploding in your face."

Filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin (whose film A Christmas Tale is also showing at MIFF this year) delves deep into his family's history in L'Aimée, an attempt to piece together the story of his relatives while taking apart their house. Clearing out the furniture with the help of his father Robert, the two rebuild the life of Thérèse - Arnaud's grandmother and Robert's mother - a physician who died of tuberculosis when Robert was just two years old.

With the aid of diaries, photographs, letters and a painted portrait, they build a picture of a woman they never knew, even as the house becomes emptier.

“Desplechin once again demonstrates his capacity for turning anything into a cinematic moment, and accomplishes what many viewers might wish they had done with their own relatives.” - Variety