Families

The film gets underway with the return of a prodigal son of sorts, as Jérôme Varenne (Mathieu Amalric) visits his mother and brother while on a European business trip away from his home in Shanghai. He is soon drawn into the byzantine legal complications that have marred the fate of the family estate. Old friends, male and female, begin to pop in and out while Jérôme wrestles with the past that scarred both his life and the lives of his loved ones, while simultaneously uncovering details of his father's activities after his parents separated. He also finds himself drawn into the web of a vibrant young woman who is, amongst other things, his best friend's girlfriend - a situation that gets even more sticky with the arrival of Jérôme's fiancée. (Toronto International Film Festival)