French Film Reviews: Marie-Francine Starring Valérie Lemercier

Hopeless doormat Marie-Francine has reached the end of her tether. She has been summarily laid off from her job as a researcher on spurious grounds. And her craven husband has chosen this rather inopportune time to spiral into a full-blown mid-life crisis and dump her for a younger model, forcing her to move back in with her overbearing petit-bourgeois parents – who can imagine no worse fate than living out one’s days as an old maid and treat their offspring as a leper.

A chance encounter with a charming chef prompts the pushover to finally locate her backbone and tell her sanctimonious family where to stick it. A gutsy coming-of-(middle) age flick with plenty of heart – and bite.