Saint Omer – REVIEW

Lovers of niche arthouse cinema should be satisfied by this extremely intense French courthouse drama which was inspired by true events and also recently screened at the French Film Festival.

A female Parisian journalist attends a court case in Saint-Omer which surrounds a young well-educated Senegalese French woman named Laurence Coly, who left her 15-month old daughter on a beach at high tide. The journalist is pregnant and is ultimately affected by this trial in unexpected ways.

Charged with murder Laurence Coly doesn’t know why she left her daughter on the beach to die but stated that hopefully the trial would answer that question.

Audiences through this slow-burning story are navigated through her life. Laurence Coly was regarded as a wonderful mother, so what possessed her to commit such a horrendous crime? Why did she conceal her pregnancy and daughter’s existence thereafter? Can a woman who kills her own child be treated with sympathy?

This movie is not for mainstream audiences as it’s long exhausting viewing which may arouse disinterest. Long cumbersome but necessary monologues are delivered while the camera is set on the judge and the accused for extraordinary lengths of time. This may also fuel restlessness amongst select audiences.

Will Laurence Coly spend 30 years in jail for murder or be sent to a medical facility for treatment? The question as to why Laurence Coly left her child to die is not resolved. Audiences are seemingly the jury, given all the evidence to deliberate, but the movie ends prior to the verdict being announced. This may seem like a somewhat underwhelming and disappointing way to conclude a movie, leaving audiences to decide her fate.

The highlights of this movie are the spellbinding performances of Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanda in the pivotal roles of the journalist and the accused mother.

★★★1/2

In cinemas May 25