The Nature of Love

(CTC)

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL 2024

French with English subtitles

Love is unexpected, sensual, funny and complicated in the latest film by French-Canadian writer/director Monia Chokri, who before becoming an internationally-renowned filmmaker, was known for her work as an actress in the films of Xavier Dolan.

Intelligently handled and full of warmth and humour, The Nature of Love delves into what happens when a happily- coupled woman falls in love with somebody else.

Sophia (Magalie Lépine Blondeau, A Brother’s Love), a 40-year-old philosophy professor, is in a long-term stable but somewhat socially-conforming relationship with Xavier, her intellectual equal but a man who is more her best friend than lover.

Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Tom at the Farm) is the working-class contractor hired to renovate their holiday home in the Canadian woods. Despite their vast differences, Sophia and Sylvain share an electrifying, creative, and uncontrollable sexual chemistry and an unpredictable affair begins. Questioning the nature of monogamy and skewering the conventions of the traditional rom-com, the film radiates with wit and passion.

Filmed with a nod to cheesy romance films of the 70s - think corny music overlays, sentimental montages and exaggerated camera angles - The Nature of Love is in fact wickedly sharp and funny.