Son autre amour: A quiet, slightly frustrating look at moving on

Is it worth your time?

If you like old French cinema that isn't afraid to be a bit dreary and mean to its child characters, sure, give it a go. But if you have zero patience for movies where the adults are just the worst for 80 minutes, you might want to skip this one. It's not a happy-go-lucky romp, that's for sure.

There is this moment about halfway through where Dédé is just... sitting there. He’s at boarding school and you can practically see the lights going out behind his eyes. It’s not even a big dramatic scene. It’s just quiet. And honestly? It’s the most real thing in the whole movie.

The father is played by Constant Rémy, and he does a great job of being exactly the kind of guy who thinks he’s a good person while actively ignoring his own kid. You know the type. He thinks he’s doing the right thing by 'finding love again' and doesn't notice that his son is essentially wilting like a plant that hasn't seen water in a week. 🥀

The boarding school stuff

The school scenes feel suffocating. Not in a stylish way, just in that way where you feel like you’re trapped in a room with too much chalk dust. It reminds me a bit of the vibe in The Price of Folly, where the atmosphere does more heavy lifting than the dialogue ever could.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Son autre amour (1934) through its definitive frames.

I found myself getting genuinely annoyed at the dad. Like, check your mail, man! Read a letter! But that’s the point, I guess. He’s caught in his own little bubble of routine and new romance. It's selfish, but it's very human.

• The kid, Dédé, has this expression that just breaks you.
• The ending feels a bit tacked on, honestly. Like they realized they couldn't just leave us all depressed.
• Saturnin Fabre pops up, and he’s always a delight, even when the script is being a total downer.

It’s not perfect. The pacing stumbles quite a bit, especially when the movie tries to pivot from 'sad kid' to 'new mummy' mode. It feels a little jarring, like watching someone change a tire while the car is still moving. 🚗💨

I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. It doesn't have the grit of L'apache, and it's definitely not trying to be a big, sweeping epic. It’s just a small story about how messy people are. Sometimes, that’s enough. Other times, I just wanted to shake the dad by the shoulders.

Is the new 'mummy' actually nice? The movie really wants us to believe she is. I’m not so sure. But I suppose that’s the tragedy of being a kid—you don't get to pick who your parents bring into the house.