It takes a particularly skilled filmmaker to realize that moving slowly and deliberately can often be more thrilling than the alternative. First time feature director Xavier Legrand, who won the prestigious Best Director award at the 2017 Venice Film Festival, is such a filmmaker. In Custody, he takes a bare bones plot about something as seemingly simple as a family custody battle and turns it into riveting, edge-of-your-seat cinema that will have your heart beating out of your chest.
Miriam and Antoine are ending their marriage. Miriam claims that her former husband is abusive, and that her son doesn’t want to see him. Antoine dismisses these claims, as he appears calm and collected before the judge. Then it happens: the two are granted joint custody. What follows is an extraordinary slow-burn dissection of domestic abuse; a window into a man with two faces, and those that have to endure both sides.
