Ali finds himself in charge of his 5-year-old son, who he barely knows. Penniless, he leaves the north of France to seek shelter at his sister’s in Antibes, where he meets Stephanie, who trains killer whales in an aqua park. After a horrific work accident, their lives become dramatically fused.

Coming off the success of his masterpiece A Prophet, and one film away from winning the Palme d’Or in Cannes, director Jacques Audiard turned to what seems a preposterous story. Yet, remarkably, he renders it not only plausible but dynamic, human, heartbreaking and sexy—often all at the same time.