Joachim Lafosse’s latest film, The Restless, makes a valiant effort to portray the toll that bipolar disorder can take on people and their loved ones. During a manic episode while on vacation with his family, he is introduced to painter Damien (Damien Bonnard). While gently teaching his young son Amin (Gabriel Merz Chammer) how to steer a motorboat, Damien suddenly jumps into the water and swims, telling Amin to take over driving. From there, Damian acts erratically at best and dangerously at worst, testing the patience of his wife Layla (Layla Bechti) as she struggles to find a suitable cure for her illness. It happens one after another.
Both Bonnard and Bekhti base their performances on known realism. Coupled with Lafosse’s intimate direction and the film’s lack of score, this helps “The Restless” avoid the whimsy that its premise might have resulted from. Unfortunately, the problem lies in the cyclical pattern of behavior that the film seeks to reveal. It is difficult to characterize the person under the disorder, as we rarely get a glimpse of Damien outside of Damien’s zealots. It might be, but it ends up being a paper-thin tale that has to fill its two hours of running time with predictable screams and dramatic beats. is commendable, but “The Restless” falls short of filming a compelling story.
Restless
Unrated. French, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Check it out at Film Movement Plus.
