French Film Fest 2025 Review - Meet the Leroys
Images courtesy of the 2025 Alliance Française French Film Festival.
“No one tells me anything!”
Content warning: discussion of depictions of self-harm.
Meet the Leroys (Nous, les Leroy), the directorial debut of Florent Bernard, is a 102-minute French dramedy that explores the emotional toll of divorce on an entire family. Starring the acclaimed Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist, 2009) as Sandrine, the film follows her decision to divorce her inattentive husband Christophe, played by José Garcia (La vérité si je mens!, 1997). Inspired by Bernard’s own experience with his parents' divorce, the story centres on Christophe’s attempt to win Sandrine back by organising a weekend road trip down memory lane, hoping not only to rekindle their relationship, but also reconnect with their teenage children along the way.
The film opens with a montage of voice messages, spanning from the couple's first date as young adults to their current lives, transitioning from landlines to mobiles. These early messages chronicle the sweet and funny moments of Sandrine and Christophe's new relationship, including the particularly memorable opening line of the film where Sandrine leaves a message for Christophe’s father asking if he sleeps with girls on the first date. However, the tone soon shifts as the montage reveals glimpses of their struggles with fights, misunderstandings, missed calls left unanswered, and unspoken apologies. Bernard capitalises on this lack of communication as we finally meet the present day couple where Sandrine laments over his inability to listen and respond to her voice messages whilst Christophe, tellingly, rebuts that voice messages are a thing of the past. This shift cleverly highlights the disconnect that has grown between them, that what once symbolised their burgeoning love and connection is now lost.
Bernard presents both sides in such a way that the audience can, heart wrenchingly, relate to both. Neither is the villain here, they’re just two people who have lost what they once had, two people who have simply grown apart. Both characters have their flaws, and Bernard delicately balances these moments by presenting them as wide open books, allowing the audience to understand the motivations behind their actions, even if no one around them can. A part of you sympathises with Sandrine, who has been trying for far too long to communicate and fix things with Christophe. Yet you can’t help but empathise with Christophe who was too distracted to recognise the breakdown of his own marriage - not out of malice or incompetence, but because he just didn’t get the memo. The voice memos. Literally.
One major criticism of Meet the Leroys is the poor handling of self-destructive behaviour. Lorelei’s (Lily Aubry’s) character falls into the problematic trope of the wounded soul teenage girl, ultimately leaning into the cliché of the cutting teen. Self-harm is a serious issue that is often poorly handled in films or resolved in a single episode of teen drama TV series, and this film is no exception. Regardless of a person’s motivations, if they are hurting themselves or seem to be, it should be taken seriously. Bernard uses this trope in a few scenes, attempting to show how the parents' troubled relationship and dysfunctional family dynamics are impacting the children. However, the film fails to address this sensitive topic with the care and depth it deserves, ultimately reducing a complex issue to a passing plot point. In fact, Lorelei’s entire self-harm arc could have been scrapped, and the movie would not have suffered in terms of narrative or character development. While it doesn’t completely detract from the film, it’s something the director should consider carefully if he aims to balance comedy with drama again in the future.
So if you’re into no fault divorces, the classic French Futuroscope theme park, discussing hard-ons on buses, and ignoring questionable portrayals of self harm, then Meet the Leroys is the film for you.
3.5 out of 5 missed voice messages.
Meet the Leroys is screening as part of the 2025 Alliance Française French Film Festival, running in Palace Cinemas sites across Melbourne from the 5th of March to the 9th of April. For tickets and more info, click here.