The Truth

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s first film outside Japan unites French screen legends Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche as an estranged mother and daughter.

The Truth tells the story of celebrated actress Fabienne (a luminous Catherine Deneuve), an icon of French cinema who is on the eve of publishing her memoir. To celebrate the occasion, her daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche) returns from New York to Paris with her husband (Ethan Hawke) and young daughter in tow. However, as mother and daughter tentatively re-establish bonds, their differing accounts on Lumir’s childhood and Fabienne’s devotion as a mother clash and the two are forced to confront that elusive concept of ‘the truth’.

Deneuve, clearly relishing one of her meatiest roles in years, is pitch perfect as the fabulous yet frank Fabienne, while Binoche more than holds her own. Witty, warm and keenly-observed, The Truth is a moving family portrait.