QUIET SON, THE
(director/writer: Delphine & Muriel Coulin; screenwriter: novel “What You Need From The Night” by Laurent Petitmangin; cinematographer: Frederic Noirhomme; editors: Beatrice Herminie/Pierre Deschamps; music: Pawel Mykietyn; cast: Vincent Lindon (Pierre), Benjamin Voisin (Fus), Stefan Crepon (Louis), Arnaud Rebotini (Bernard), Édouard Sulpice (Jérémy), Sophie Guillemin (Cathy), Maëlle Poésy (Fus’s lawyer), Béatrice Pérez (the doyenne of the Sorbonne); Runtime: 118; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Olivier Delbosc, Marie Guiiaumond; Curiosa Films; 2024-France/Belgium)-in French with English subtitles)
“The Quiet Son is outspoken about his extremist beliefs.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The French sister co-directors and writers Delphine & Muriel Coulin (“The Stopover”/”17 Girls “) present the fourth feature film they collaborated on, a dramatic and sensitive character study on a family’s love, passion and regret. It’s based on the 2020 novel “What You Need From The Night” by Laurent Petitmangin.
It takes place in a small town in Bordeaux, in northeastern France, on the border of Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg.
A tight-knit all-male family of three is troubled when their eldest son joins a far-right group. The leftist single father Pierre (Vincent Lindon), a widower, is a hard-working caring railway worker. He lives with his teenage sons–the athletic but aimless Fus (Benjamin Voisin) and the studious Louis (Stefan Crepon). The family’s stability is rocked when Fus starts running around with a violent gang of white skinhead nationalists who attack people of color at football games and on the street. Ironically, the Quiet Son is outspoken about his extremist beliefs, as his racism causes a tension in the household.
“The Quiet One” comes up with no easy answers in its cautionary tale on what makes a bigot or makes them susceptible to being recruited into violent racist gangs.
It reaches its vexing emotional climax by suggesting we reserve judgment on the gang recruited fascist son of the good father, because he comes from a nice family.
The fictional story tells us precious little about who should be held accountable for such criminal anti-social actions. The sisters needed a broader vision of the situation to get to the bottom of things.
It played at the Venice Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 2/4/2025 GRADE: C+
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