Custody (2017 film)

2017 film by Xavier Legrand

Custody

Theatrical release poster

French| Jusqu'à la garde
Directed by| Xavier Legrand
Written by| Xavier Legrand
Produced by| Alexandre Gavras
Starring|

* Denis Ménochet
* Léa Drucker
* Thomas Gioria
* Mathilde Auneveux
* Mathieu Saïkaly
* Florence Janas
* Saadia Bentaïeb
* Sophie Pincemaille
* Émilie Incerti Formentini
* Jérôme Care-Aulanier
* Jenny Bellay
* Jean-Marie Winling
* Martine Vandeville
* Martine Schambacher
* Jean-Claude Leguay
* Julien Lucas
* Coralie Russier

Cinematography| Nathalie Durand
Edited by| Yorgos Lamprinos

Production
companies

* KG Productions
* France 3 Cinéma

Distributed by| Haut et Court

Release dates

* 8 September 2017 (2017-09-08) (Venice)
* 7 February 2018 (2018-02-07) (France)

Running time

| 93 minutes
Country| France
Language| French
Budget| €3.1 million[1]
($3.5 million)
Box office| $3.8 million[2]

Custody (French: Jusqu'à la garde, lit. 'Up to the Hilt') is a 2017 French drama film written and directed by Xavier Legrand and starring Denis Ménochet, Léa Drucker and Thomas Gioria. It was screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival where it won the Silver Lion.[3][4] At the 44th César Awards, Custody won the awards for Best Film, Best Actress (Drucker), and Best Original Screenplay.[5]

## Plot

[edit]

Miriam Besson and Antoine Besson are a recently divorced couple. They have a daughter close to the age of eighteen, Joséphine, and an eleven-year-old son, Julien. Miriam wants to protect her son and keep him away from his father, whom she accuses of being violent. Therefore, during the custody court hearing, she asks for sole custody of the child, providing a letter from Julien saying that he does not want to see his father.

Despite Miriam's pleas, the judge grants shared custody and orders the child to spend alternate weekends with his father. Julien is frightened of his father and wants to protect his mother from the physical and psychological violence inflicted by Antoine.

Antoine wants to continue to exercise his power over Miriam and Julien with pressure and threats to the child. This attitude, and his aggressive outbursts, creates tension with his own parents who tell Antoine to leave their home, where he had been staying. Antoine then intimidates Julien into showing him where the family has moved to.

Antoine turns up outside the venue of Joséphine's 18th birthday party. During an argument he grabs his ex-wife by her throat, until her sister Sylvia intervenes, threatening to call the police if Antoine ever shows up again.

That night, while Miriam and Julien are sleeping at their home, Antoine tries to enter the apartment armed with a shotgun, which he fires into the door. A neighbour calls the police. Miriam and Julien barricade themselves in the bathroom, following advice from a police call centre, until police officers arrive and disarm and arrest Antoine.

## Cast

[edit]

* Léa Drucker as Miriam Besson
* Denis Ménochet as Antoine Besson
* Thomas Gioria as Julien Besson
* Mathilde Auneveux as Joséphine Besson
* Mathieu Saïkaly [fr] as Samuel
* Florence Janas as Sylvia
* Saadia Bentaïeb [fr] as the judge
* Coralie Russier [fr] as the court clerk
* Sophie Pincemaille as Maître Davigny
* Émilie Incerti Formentini [fr] as Maître Ghenen
* Jérôme Care-Aulanier as the Police Rescue operator agent
* Jenny Bellay as the neighbour
* Martine Vandeville [fr] as Madeleine, Antoine's mother
* Jean-Marie Winling as Joël Besson, Antoine's father
* Martine Schambacher as Nanny, Miriam's mother
* Jean-Claude Leguay [fr] as André, Miriam's father
* Julien Lucas [fr] as Cyril

## Reception

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 121 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Custody uses formal restraint—and a series of searing performances—to take a hard-hitting look at the often painful bond between parents and children."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim", and is listed as a "Metacritic must-see".[7]

For The Canadian Press, David Friend said, "Xavier Legrand captures unsettling performances from his entire cast, especially the young Thomas Gioria as the child caught in the midst of turmoil."[8] Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor noted "the ordeal of the children is not skimped. They bear the brunt, and the legacy, of the anguish."[9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Jusqu'à la garde (Custody) (2018)". JP Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 31 January 2019.
2. ^ "Custody (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
3. ^ Anderson, Ariston (27 July 2017). "Venice Competition Includes Films From George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro, Darren Aronofsky". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
4. ^ Anderson, Ariston (9 September 2017). "Venice: Guillermo del Toro Wins Golden Lion for 'The Shape of Water'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
5. ^ "Cesar Awards: Xavier Legrand's 'Custody' Wins Best Film". Variety. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
6. ^ "Custody". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
7. ^ "Custody". Metacritic. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
8. ^ Friend, David (16 September 2017). "Five to watch: Standout TIFF films that flew under the radar". CTV News. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
9. ^ Rainer, Peter (20 July 2018). "'Custody' doesn't skimp on the ordeal of the child in a custody battle". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 7 August 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Custody at IMDb
* Custody at AlloCiné (in French)

* v
* t
* e

César Award for Best Film

* Le vieux fusil (1976)
* Monsieur Klein (1977)
* Providence (1978)
* L'argent des autres (1979)
* Tess (1980)
* The Last Metro (1981)
* Quest for Fire (1982)
* La Balance (1983)
* Le Bal and À Nos Amours (1984, tie)
* My New Partner (1985)
* Three Men and a Cradle (1986)
* Thérèse (1987)
* Au revoir les enfants (1988)
* Camille Claudel (1989)
* Too Beautiful for You (1990)
* Cyrano de Bergerac (1991)
* Tous les Matins du Monde (1992)
* Savage Nights (1993)
* Smoking/No Smoking (1994)
* Wild Reeds (1995)
* La Haine (1996)
* Ridicule (1997)
* Same Old Song (1998)
* The Dreamlife of Angels (1999)
* Venus Beauty Institute (2000)
* The Taste of Others (2001)
* Amélie (2002)
* The Pianist (2003)
* The Barbarian Invasions (2004)
* Games of Love and Chance (2005)
* The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2006)
* Lady Chatterley (2007)
* The Secret of the Grain (2008)
* Séraphine (2009)
* A Prophet (2010)
* Of Gods and Men (2011)
* The Artist (2012)
* Amour (2013)
* Me, Myself and Mum (2014)
* Timbuktu (2015)
* Fatima (2016)
* Elle (2017)
* BPM (Beats per Minute) (2018)
* Custody (2019)
* Les Misérables (2020)
* Bye Bye Morons (2021)
* Lost Illusions (2022)
* The Night of the 12th (2023)
* Anatomy of a Fall (2024)
* Emilia Pérez (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Dublin Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film

* Brokeback Mountain (2006)
* The Lives of Others (2007)
* There Will Be Blood (2008)
* Let the Right One In (2009)
* A Prophet (2010)
* Drive (2011)
* The Artist (2012)
* Gravity (2013)
* Boyhood (2014)
* Inside Out (2015)
* I, Daniel Blake (2016)
* Aquarius (2017)
* Custody (2018)
* Marriage Story (2019)
* Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2020)
* The Power of the Dog (2021)
* The Quiet Girl (2022)

* v
* t
* e

Lumière Award for Best First Film

* Me, Myself and Mum (2014)
* Love at First Fight (2015)
* Mustang (2016)
* Divines (2017)
* Until the Birds Return (2018)
* Custody (2019)
* The Mustang (2020)
* Two of Us (2021)
* Gagarine (2022)
* The Sixth Child (2023)
* The Rapture (2024)
* Holy Cow (2025)

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