H. T. Davey Reviews

Review by H. T. Davey

Petite Maman (2021)

★★★★

Director: Céline Sciamma

As a child we view things much different compared to our parents, we see opportunity and fun in simple things, like finding a new game in a tree stump or creating a house out of tree branches and sticks. Simply put, Petite Maman is a 72-minute masterpiece. A delicate film about loss, childhood memories and illness. Petite Maman translates to “little mom” and this film has no clear answer to its meaning, enthralling us into the experience between mother and daughter as they encompass grief with its complexities. Little 9-year-old Nelly and her mother Marion, return to Marion’s childhood home to empty it out after Marion’s mother passes away. Both Nelly and Marion are grieving in different ways; Nelly is leaning on her mother for compassion and support, while Marion is delving inwards, grieving silently and on her own.

Nelly and her mother share some delicate moments together where Marion expresses to Nelly her sadness about her mother’s death. Nelly also communicates how her last goodbye to her grandmother “wasn’t good” and regrets not hugging her better. We experience the intense and innocent guilt of a child and childhood regret Nelly encompasses.

We witness a child struggle with grief, yet we also see Marion struggle with her own mother’s death and moving on from the past. This is apparent when Marion, a woman of few words, says “I remember” very softly to her husband as though to say I remember everything and don’t know how to move forward. After this and after only one day of emptying out the house, Marion unexpectedly leaves in the night overwhelmed with the grief of her mother.

With her mother gone, Nelly searches the woods of her mother’s childhood home, and she meets a young girl named Marion who resembles her mother. We see childhood imagination take place, as Nelly and little Marion play in the woods together being children and having fun. One could interpret this relationship as Nelly creating her mother as an imaginary friend. However, this is never described in the movie, instead the audience can arrive to their own conclusion.

Nelly and little Marion play together, cook together, and discuss their insecurities in life even describing their struggles with their families. We see Nelly interact with Marion’s mother, who bares resemblance to Nelly’s grandmother, and they interact playing a crossword game together. Its these petite moments in this film which makes it incredibly touching. Something so simple can remind us of how precious simple moments can be.

In the end, we see a beautiful embrace of sadness, joy and understanding on an empty living room floor. It reminds us that a home is not just walls and carpet, instead it is filled with memories and the people that make it a home. This also reminds us that a home is never just one thing. It is surrounded with multiple emotions of life and death, and our journey with family and significant others throughout it.

Petite Maman proves a wonderful catharsis of childhood with all its complexities and pitfalls. Shared and individual grief is explored in this touching film directed by Céline Sciamma. It is a film worth watching in a cinema or in a dimly lit, tender home.