THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – WHY NOT
Sandra and Rémy have loved each other for a long time, but they cannot have children. To get out of this difficulty, they agree to follow a new protocol which consists of having sexual relations with their exes. According to the professor who follows them, this coital catharsis would have a good chance of freeing their fertility by freeing them from the syndrome of past loves which affects them. But the odds of lovers don’t have much in common: three exes for him, ten times more for her… In practice, Rémy risks feeling a little alone.
Presented in May in a special screening at Critics’ Week, Past Love Syndrome follows in the wake of a long line of past love films. It recalls the documentary experience Happily Ever After (2014), by Croatian director Tatjana Bozic, who visits her former companions to understand what is wrong with her relationship. Further afield, we also think of Blurred Love (2018), by Romane Bohringer and her ex-husband Philippe Rebbot, or these American romantic comedies with explicit titles: Haunted by his exes, (S)ex list, Ex-Girlfriends, Ex-Husbands…
If the alternative therapy which governs the scenario of this farandole of exes, of the French duo Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni, jumps the barrier of realism from the outset, it adheres to our era where long romantic CVs forge the feelings of ‘a lot of us. The protagonists of the film could sing: “I’m so grateful for my ex”like R’n’B diva Ariana Grande, on the title Thank U, Next (2019), who thanked first Big Sean, then Ricky Alvarez, then Pete Davidson, and finally Mac Miller for returning it “amazing!” “.
Lack of roughness
To start a family, Sandra and Rémy have to flutter. By programming a whole series of infidelities which send them back to their cuddly memories, this prescription immediately has something enticing. It appears to be an original and privileged argument for exploring the throes of the couple, between jealousy, desire and also disgust – you don’t necessarily want to sleep with an ex again, especially when life has made her your half-sister ( amazing Nora Hamzawi). But the directors give this series of reunions an emancipatory force that the film struggles to justify. Blunted by improvised dialogues of uneven quality, romantic fantasy lacks roughness and too often boils down to anecdotal and folklore.
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