Affection Affection

A statue found thrown into a villa’s pool, a mine explosion in the harbor…. As Maxime Matray and Alexia Walther’s playfully enigmatic sophomore feature begins, inexplicable minor disturbances have begun to trouble the calm of a small town on the Côte d’Azur. These isolated events presage more sinister, destabilizing occurances. Matray and Walter focus their narrative around the character of Géraldine (Agathe Bonitzer), who launches her own investigation after her partner and stepdaughter both disappear. Taking adroit advantage of the bracing scenery of the French Riviera, alive with the slight chill of winter, the eccentric yet understated Affection Affection draws viewers into the action via Bonitzer’s character, closely trailing her journey into the tangled motivations of citizens who all have their secrets, while attentively rendering the lesser-seen rhythms and textures of a French resort town during the off-season.