A Christmas Tale

Bad blood courses through the veins of A Christmas Tale, and not just figuratively. The extended Vuillard clan is rocked by news of leukemia striking its brave-faced matriarch, Junon (Deneuve). With the holidays drawing near, they gather. All of it and more gets swirled into a seasonal hot toddy by expert director Desplechin, who so easily elicits anxieties and laughs from tense ensembles.