Love Me Tender: Krieps anchors queer custody drama
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- Anna Cazenave Cambet writes and directs "Love Me Tender," adapting Constance Debré's autobiographical novel about a French mother systematically denied contact with her young son.
- Vicky Krieps stars as Clémence, delivering what the review calls an "intelligent, finely calibrated and sensitive performance," and mimics Debré's close-cropped hairstyle in the film's final act.
- The film depicts Clémence's 18-month ordeal of losing court-ordered access to her son Paul after coming out as gay, with her ex-partner Laurent triggering the custody fight.
- Laurent (Antoine Reinartz) applies for sole custody and coerces their son into writing a bogus deposition statement attacking Clémence, succeeding in denying her access for a year and a half.
- The film withholds the first clear look at Paul's face until an hour into the runtime, at the first court-supervised contact meeting — a directorial choice the reviewer calls "inspired."
- Clémence finds intimacy with Sarah (Monia Chokri) while caring for her elderly father (Féodor Atkine), in a story the reviewer calls an "intelligent, sensual and bitter slice of life."
Why it matters: The film frames French family courts as instruments of patriarchal punishment: Clémence loses 18 months of contact with her son because she came out as gay and began succeeding as a writer. That political stake — courts weaponised against queer mothers — elevates the drama beyond standard custody melodrama.
