Continuer

Joachim Lafosse is famous for his tough chamber dramas (Private Lessons, IFFR 2008) but Continuer breaks this vein with its outdoor location, opening it up with its own brand of motherly Western. Sybille, a single mother, takes a last chance to reconnect with her violent, drifting son through a horse trip in Kyrgyzstan. This family therapy is reminiscent of the aptly-titled song Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones: "I watched you suffer a dull aching pain / Now you've decided to show me the same."

Lafosse uses the tropes of the Western to match this glorious, dangerous trip with the soul-searching inner journey of his characters. The impact is highly emotional, thanks to strong performances from Virginie Efira, as a woman torn between her independent nature and her wish to be a good mother, and Kacey Mottet-Klein (Keeper, IFFR 2016) as the troubled teenager, more at ease with horses than people.