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The Refuge
The Refuge
6.6
/10
844 Ratings

THE REFUGE

Le refuge

Directed by François Ozon
France, 2009
Drama, LGBTQ+

Synopsis

Mousse (Isabelle Carré) and Louis (Melvil Poupaud) are a young couple in love, whose lives have been taken over by drugs. After they take an overdose of heroin, Louis dies. Mousse survives but discovers she’s pregnant. She flees Paris in order to come to terms with Louis’ death in a town by the sea.

Synopsis

Mousse (Isabelle Carré) and Louis (Melvil Poupaud) are a young couple in love, whose lives have been taken over by drugs. After they take an overdose of heroin, Louis dies. Mousse survives but discovers she’s pregnant. She flees Paris in order to come to terms with Louis’ death in a town by the sea.

Our take

François Ozon’s sensibility is highly palpable in The Refuge, through a restrained visual style and a caring, tender character, who simultaneously accepts motherhood and grieves for her lover. Shot during Isabelle Carré’s own pregnancy, it won the Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival.