Cannes Film Festival Review | Homecoming (Le Retour)

Esther Gohourou, Suzy Bemba, and Aissatou Diallo Sagna in Homecoming (Le Retour)

Reunion in France: Corsini Concocts Earnest Reconciliation Melodrama 

By Nicholas Bell | Published on May 18, 2023

Director Catherine Corsini has developed a vigorous filmography filled with a vast array of protagonists who find themselves confronted with a life changing scenario, often dealing with personal epiphanies relating to the discovery or loss of love. Her twelfth feature, Homecoming, happens to be one of her most vibrant offerings in years. Like several of her previous efforts, the title belies the simplicity of the narrative, not unlike the sweet Cecile de France led romance Summertime (2015) or her zany, somewhat shrill hospital drama The Divide (2021). This time around, she utilizes elements from her own life and transposes them onto a widowed West African mother of two teenage girls suddenly allowed the possibility to confront a trauma which shaped them irrevocably. Despite its simple structure, Corsini weaves a confrontation of sexual exploration and class issues into a narrative satisfying both a coming-of-age experience as well as the catharsis of rectification. Maybe one can’t go home again, but confronting ghosts defining the present can sometimes be what sets us free.

In the film’s frantic opening moments, the context of what’s going on isn't quite clear other than a mother clinging desperately to her two young children who seem to be fleeing, receiving tragic news before they reach safety. Fifteen years later, we find Khedidja (Aïssatou Diallo Sagna, from The Divide) on a boat back to Corsica with her daughters, Jessica (Suzy Bemba), now eighteen, and Farah (Esther Gohourou), fifteen. The girls have no memory of their birthplace, only knowing their father, a Corsican, died tragically under circumstances they’re not quite clear about. It’s also apparent the sisters are opposite of one another, with Jessica an apt pupil about to pursue either a career in journalism or law, while the younger Farah is more of a wild child, brazen and outspoken. The circumstances which bring them back are thanks to Khedidja taking a job as a nanny for an affluent white couple (Virginie Ledoyen, Denis Podalydes) who have a rather ambivalent attitude towards a brood of youngsters running around their elegant estate, several miles from the village Khedidja used to live.

It’s not long before the past comes roaring back for Khedidja, who reaches out to her husband’s best friend, Marc-Andria (Cédric Appietto), with whom she shares a definite affection. But her dead husband’s mother (who her children believe to be dead) is a sore spot considering she blames Khedidja for her son’s death, a history unpacked in the third act. As Khedidja circuitously tries to make amends with the past, her children experience their own awakenings. Jessica finds herself drawn to Gaia (Lomane de Dietrich), the oldest daughter of her mother’s employers. Drifting through her own privileged ennui, Gaia embarks on a whirlwind affair with Jessica, a relationship Farah can sense despite a lack of verbalization. Farah gets herself into trouble with the older Orso (Harold Orsoni), a rough and tumble Corsican who minds a stand at the local beach. Their own little tempestuous attraction leads Farah to read her sister’s diary, where she reads incendiary, upsetting thoughts on what Jessica really feels about her family. This revelation arrives just as Jessica discovers their grandmother is alive and well, living in their childhood home. A reckoning between the three of them is imminent.

Corsini allows all these elements to simmer before an emotional explosion, creating a series of confrontations, mostly thanks to the tenacious Farah, who instigates a whole series of conversations regarding subjects everyone wants to avoid. From colorism to class privilege, she somehow ends up being the film’s center of resilience as her mother and sister struggle to confront parts of themselves they’ve been avoiding. The performances from the three leads makes for a captivating ordeal, all taking place during the course of one highly contentious summer; however, it’s newcomers Bemba and Gohouru who provide the beating heart of the film. Co-written by Naïla Guiguet (who collaborated on Louis Garrel’s The Crusade and The Innocent), there’s an easygoing authenticity to the familiar experiences, sometimes underlined with a likable comedic tension (such as Jessica taking ecstasy at a party and demolishing the host’s bathroom sink with Gaia). Although Corsini doesn’t bring us to a pat resolution, it’s an effusive portrayal of two sisters and their loving mother, who’s finally forced to reveal a part of herself she’s kept invisible.

★★★1/2☆☆