This one is another compact European film that punches way above its weight class and it’s also the feature film debut by its director Xavier Legrand. It’s a little difficult to write about this because part of the intended effect involves some ambiguity over who is actually in the wrong. However if I don’t reveal anything at all, there wouldn’t be anything worth commenting about, so go on ahead only if you don’t mind spoilers.
Miriam and Antoine Bresson are in the middle of a messy divorce which affects the lives of their two children. Antoine alleges that Miriam has taken the children and moved away without warning while she in turns accuses him of being prone to physical abuse. As the older teenage daughter is nearing the age of 18, Antoine’s lawyer mainly seeks joint custody of the 11-year old Julien. The judge decides that Julien has to stay with Antoine every other weekend. Julien himself is reluctant to stay with his father and constantly tells lies which Antoine attributes to Miriam poisoning the children’s minds against him. At first Antoine appears to be patient and makes some effort to coax Julien to talk to him. However it soon becomes clear that Miriam and the children have good reason to be fearful of him as he becomes increasingly insistent on finding out where their new place of residence is.
The initial ambiguity over which parent’s side of the story is true turns out to be a bit of gimmick as Antoine’s monstrousness soon comes to the fore. It serves a good purpose here however as it shows how it may not be easy for the judge to decide what the correct decision to make might be as without omniscience, it’s important to give both sides the benefit of the doubt. I also like that even as Antoine’s temper and his obsessive need to control the women that he believes belongs to him become clear, he is still clear headed enough to not go too far until the very end in order to create reasonable doubt in the eyes of the law. This means that even though we can all see that he is the villain of the piece, it is difficult to think about what measures can be preemptively taken to protect Miriam and the children without running afoul of the law. That is part of what makes this film so scary.
Once the mask cracks however Custody makes for a terrifyingly effective horror film. Julien’s reluctance to engage with Antoine isn’t childish stubbornness but a well-honed fear response. Even Miriam’s parents cringe and cower when they realize that he is right outside their house. The actor who plays Antoine is physically huge but it doesn’t really register until he bulls his way into Miriam presence. It’s clear that she doesn’t want to be anywhere near him, yet as he cries and hugs her, it is painful to see her being forced to put up with it even as Julien looks on. So long as he isn’t overtly hostile, you can see how it seems like there’s not much she can do about it and is forced to helplessly submit. This is far scarier than any supernatural horror film because it’s worryingly plausible and feels so close to home. I’m especially impressed by how Antoine even attempts to employ emotional blackmail, telling Miriam how much he needs her and how she’s partially responsible for the situation.
A small flaw here is that the film leans a bit too heavily on red herrings that do help keep the audience guessing but also takes away some of the emotional impact. For example, the subplot involving the daughter and her boyfriend turns out to not really matter at all. It seems to me that it shouldn’t be that difficult to have that side of the story tie back to Antoine. Nevertheless this is an excellent film all around and a great example of how a simple story with well known themes can be solid given perfect execution.