Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #22. Valérie Donzelli’s L’amour et les forêts

L’amour et les forêts

Adapted alongside Audrey Diwan, Valérie Donzelli moved into the turbulent relationship terrain with her sixth feature film. The book-to-film project features Virginie Efira and Melvil Poupaud on a sinking ship (don’t let the smiles fool you). Production on L’amour et les forêts (aka Just The Two Of Us) took place in April of last year. Rectangle Productions’ Édouard Weil and Alice Girard produced the film. Donzelli’s previous films 2009’s Queen of Hearts, 2011’s Declaration of War, 2012’s Hand in Hand, 2015’s Marguerite and Julien, 2019’s Notre Dame.

Gist: When she first crossed paths with Greg, she thought she’d found the one she’d been looking for. They quickly formed an attachment, but their relationship is marred by Greg’s quick temper. Blanche ignores her niggling doubts and distances herself from her family and twin sister, convinced that she’s reinventing herself. And little by little, she finds herself caught in the trap of a possessive and dangerous man. A man she’s too ashamed and frightened to report. Because there are only two possible exit routes from control: either the victim breaks free or they fall apart…

Release Date/Prediction: We think this might shoot back into the competition section for the Palme d’Or.