Cédric Kahn is a connoisseur of perverse human emotions, as he proved in his tale of obsession L’ennui, and a master of dramatic tension: see his nail-biting Simenon adaptation Red Lights. He’s on equally merciless form in Regrets, a sort of anti-romance that shows why you can never go home again. When architect Mathieu (Yvan Attal) returns to his home town, he catches sight of former girlfriend Maya (Valéria Bruni-Tedeschi). The two find that, despite the intervening years, they can’t keep away from each other – which proves bad news for everyone, including the pair’s respective spouses (played by Arly Jover and singer-songwriter Philippe Katerine, as Maya’s boorish husband). Matching the mood of a suspense thriller with the insights of the traditional French adultery drama, the somewhat Chabrolian Regrets is a taut and discomforting film that constantly undermines expectations and that might well have viewers examining their own mid-life regrets. Leads Attal and Bruni-Tedeschi are at their best in a sheened, sophisticated psychological entertainment – although it’s possibly not a film to see with your ex. —BFI
Born in Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris on 17.6.1996, his first job in film was as a trainee on Maurice Pialat’s SOUS LE SOLEIL DE SATAN. Shortly after this he worked as an assistant editor to Yann Dedet, with whom he later collaborated.He was coauthor on Brigitte Roüan’s OUTREMER. His debut as a feature film director was BAR DES RAILS.He made a name for himself at an international level with his Alberto Moravia adaptation, L’ENNUI and his portrait of serial killer ROBERTO SUCCO. —Berlin International Film Festival
a film with theme and characters full of contradictions and conflicting emotions. it pulls on the strings of each character as much as it does the viewer, demanding us to either root or damn their affair.
