Anne Fontaine, 2017, France, 115 min

Marvin Bijou is sensitive, creative boy living in, what he will later in life identify as, exile. He knows at a young age that he is gay and that he is completely alone when facing the sexual and physical abuse of bullies and the oppressive ignorance of his family. Accomplished director Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel) deftly moves us through past and present to unwind the journey of Marvin’s life from small town outcast to a successful playwright and stage actor, working with real-life acclaimed actress Isabelle Huppert, whom he meets through an older lover and who becomes his mentor and friend. But the journey is not sprinkled with fairy dust and happy endings. Marvin’s demons plague him, even while honing both his craft and his sexuality. Marvin discovers that in escaping his miserable childhood for the freedoms of Paris, he is still trapped inside his own exile. French actors Jules Porier (young Marvin) and Finnegan Oldfield (adult version) carry the tension of such a journey in every move and in every glance. Marvin’s trajectory is jumbled and tenuous, reminding us that the path to our dreams is not a direct line, and finding peace takes more than just changing our name and moving away. (SH)

In French & English with English subtitles.

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