Review: "Hideway" Tells the Story a Pregnant Woman and Her Gay BFF

Isabelle Carre and Louis-Ronan Choisy

Ah, French cinema, how I love your non-linear, naturalistic ways!

Actually, that's not true. The truth is, all things being equal, I'm generally not a huge fan of contemporary French cinema — although I often enjoy the performances, and I openly acknowledge the huge debt that U.S. cinema owes to French films for their realism, emotional intimacy, and sensuality. Let's face it: when it comes to these elements, American filmmakers often suck.

But when it comes to plot? That's where the best American filmmakers excel. Meanwhile, I often find that French films, at least the more esoteric (read: pretentious) ones, leave me feeling vaguely dissatisfied by their slight, meandering plots and non-resolutions.

Yes, yes, that's exactly like "life." But movies aren't life, are they?

I'm noting all these biases up front because, while it does have its moments, I wasn't a big fan of Hideway (Le Refuge), the new film by noted gay French writer-director Francois Ozon, just out on DVD. But just so we're clear, I also wasn't a fan of Ozon's earlier films, 8 Women and Swimming Pool (he also directed Time to Leave and Criminal Lovers, which I have not seen).

What is the plot? Mousse (French actress Isabelle Carre) and her hot boyfriend Louis have a serious drug problem. After Louis has a fatal overdose, Mousse discovers she is pregnant with his child, so she retreats to a seaside cottage to try to turn her life around (despite objections from the ex's mother, who wants her to abort). While at the cottage, she slowly develops a friendship with Louis' gay brother, Paul (played by popular French singer Louis-Ronan Choisy).

Mousse is understandably emotional, not only about being pregnant, but having lost her boyfriend only several months before. As Mousse and Paul spend lazy afternoons lying on the beach and walking around old graveyards (and as Paul has a casual fling with a local man), Mousse tries to come to terms with her past and her own impending motherhood. Paul, meanwhile, tries to sort out his feelings for his dead brother, and also come to terms with his own controlling mother.

(Incidentally, do the French ever work?! Six weeks of vacation a year must be damn nice.)

The movie's press materials make a big deal out of the fact that Carre was pregnant during the filming of the movie, and I admit it's interesting to see an actual pregnant body so lovingly captured on film.

Meanwhile, Choisy, in his much-publicized screen debut, is not only very handsome, he has an appealingly gentle film presence.

The problem? You know what I'm going to say: not much happens. I could say it has a meandering plot, but it's more accurate to say that, in place of a plot, the film is more "slice-of-life": this is really what might happen if these two characters spent several weeks together in the last throes of pregnancy.

Which isn't to say there aren't several interesting scenes. There's a scene on the beach where another woman stops Mousse to admire the beauty of her pregnancy — but then, of course, she quickly becomes a Grade A boor.

Meanwhile, Paul's gayness is wonderfully matter-of-fact. (But a word of warning: there's a hoary gay film cliche toward the end of the film that annoyed me — even if it is popping up in an arty French film, a medium that loves to embrace the idea of fluid sexuality.)

The lessons learned are small in the "plot" sense, but admittedly big in the "character" sense. Even so, while I appreciated the film's naturalistic performances, I was never particularly engaged by the story, and the whole experience left me thinking, "Wow, what a slight movie."

Still, if French cinema is your passion, your mileage may very well vary. There's no denying that, for what it is, the film is well-done.