Le fils de l'autre: A melodrama that goes off the rails

Is it worth the watch?

If you have a thing for dusty, old-school melodramas where everyone is constantly gasping, you might get a kick out of Le fils de l'autre. It’s definitely not for the modern viewer who needs pacing that doesn't feel like watching paint dry. If you hate overly coincidental plots or people staring intensely at ocean waves, skip this one immediately.

The whole premise is just wild. We’re talking about a woman who falls for a guy on a boat, only to find out he’s actually related to her husband. Classic, right? It’s the kind of thing that probably felt scandalous in its day but just feels like a headache now.

Notes from the couch

• The dialogue is so formal it sounds like they’re reading from a legal document.
• The lighting in some of these interior shots is just flat-out bizarre.
• The transition between scenes happens so fast you’ll get whiplash.

There’s a scene near the middle where the protagonist looks out the window, and I swear she stays there for three full minutes. It’s not poetic. It’s just long. I kept checking if my player had frozen. It hadn't.

It’s weird to think about how this compares to something like The Taming of the Shrewd, which at least has some energy to it. Le fils de l'autre feels like it’s struggling to stay awake. The actors seem like they’d rather be anywhere else than on that set.

The twist isn't really a twist if you’ve seen more than three movies in your life. Still, there’s a strange charm to how serious they take these absurd revelations. You can almost see the gears turning as they try to act out the misery.

Is it a masterpiece? No. It’s a relic. It’s barely holding onto its own plot by the end. If you’re into the history of film, maybe give it a peek. Otherwise, there’s plenty of other stuff out there. Even something like Flowing Gold offers a bit more grit for your time. 🤷‍♂️

I left the screening feeling like I needed a long nap. It wasn't bad, just… heavy. Like eating a loaf of bread for dinner. Not very satisfying.