Director Joachim Lafosse had everything at his disposal in Our Children. A fantastic story, award winning actors and the expertise to pull off a stunner. While he manages to bring all the elements together nicely, Our Children suffers from being too matter-of-fact. Our Children is a tragic family drama about a woman’s entrapment in a life that, due to no fault of anyone in particular, starts suffocating her. Murielle is blessed with four children and a loving husband, but they have to live with the husband’s brother-in-law, an elderly well-to-do doctor who provides them room in his house as well as everyday support, including financial. Indebted to him, the husband tries to bring a balance between the wife, children and the doctor. The film’s focus is on the deteriorating mental state of Murielle. Unfortunately, as good as Émilie Dequenne’s performance is as Murielle, the movie fails to convince that this ordinary woman going through a moderately tense situation could spiral into her eventual mental state. The shifts in her demeanor are neither progressive, nor extreme. In fact, there is little that can explain her final act. Simply put, though the ingredients were all there for the perfect recipe, the chef just messes up this one.
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