Martha… Martha

Veysset's third feature turns away from the fairy tale mood of Victor - pendant qu'il est trop tard to the more conventionally dark and austere realism of her debut, Will It Snow for Christmas? The heroine is a vivacious, volatile young woman, well meaning and loving but too bored, immature and troubled by her past to live up to the expectations of her six-year-old daughter and the saintly lover who keeps their heads above water by selling clothes at the local markets. From the start, when the trio visit her sister in Spain, you know something's got to give, but Veysett mostly keeps things fresh in terms of insights, atmosphere and narrative - until the damaged family move into a new home. Still, the acting's great, the tone assured, the whole engrossing and poignant.