Drift Away

In The Young Lieutenant Xavier Beauvois portrayed a fledgling provincial police officer entering service in Paris. This time the director tells the story of an experienced officer named Laurent, who lives with his beloved Marie and his daughter Poulette in a small coastal town in Normandy. The protagonist of Drift Away seems impeccable: he performs his duties diligently, enjoys authority among his colleagues and townspeople, fulfills the role of a father and fiancé (after 10 years he proposed to his partner). However, storm clouds gather over Laurent's life after an unexpected tragedy involving a farmer friend. The director exploits a Christian formula with the spirit of a parable to reflect on the existential and moral crisis, the collision of an individual with a polarized society, and a manhood put to the test. The protagonist's internal conflicts are ensconced in the focused face of Jérémy Renier, an outstanding Belgian actor, familiar from the films of the Dardenne brothers and François Ozon. In the background, apart from the raw beauty of the Normandy coast, the difficult situation of local farmers, forced to adapt to the exorbitant standards of the European Union, stands out.