“Naturalistic performances by the ensemble give the film much of its charm.”

Single mother Sana (Eye Haïdara) works multiple menial jobs to provide for her young sons Tom (Leonis Pinero Müller) and Raph (Teodor Pinero Müller), becoming an increasingly absent person in their lives. Determined to make it up to them, she plans a week’s vacation in Lyon which also doubles as an opportunity to spend time with new partner Jules (Jules Waringo), whom the boys only know as their former football coach. When these plans fall through, she reluctantly decides to lead the group to her former in-laws’ villa in St. Tropez, despite the fact that she is no longer welcome there after her divorce. Over six days, this strained family unit will strengthen their bonds and gain a better understanding of each other.

Returning to the San Sebastian competition two years after A Silence, Belgian filmmaker Joachim Lafosse is no stranger to stories of families on the verge of a breaking point, and while his latest film Six Days in Spring (Six jours ce printemps-là) adopts a much calmer and more relaxed tone than films such as Our Children or The Restless, this unfortunately isn’t one of his stronger efforts. Much of that is down to the film’s screenplay, superficial in character development and lacking dramatic tension despite the risky decision made by Sana to break into a home that is now forbidden to her. Lafosse’s best films are rich in psychological detail, but that isn’t as present here, instead relying on an indie folk piano score to provide emotional heft. Sana’s emotional turmoil – struggling to be present for her sons while also carving out some space for herself – has great potential, but despite a strong performance by Eye Haïdara (best known in France for her work in mainstream comedies) it doesn’t quite pack the emotional punch it should. There is a charm to watching the two adolescent boys find fun in their unconventional vacation, and the Pinero Müller brothers are naturals on-screen, but again one wishes that there was more to it than general mischief and brief confusion over their mother’s new relationship. There are some moments where interlopers threaten the fragile harmony that the group has built and give the film a dramatic jolt: Damien Bonnard as a hot-headed contractor who comes to blows with the boys over a broken pool fence, and Emmanuelle Devos (one of the best and most underrated actresses of her generation, wasted here in a two-minute cameo) as a former acquaintance whose presence signals the end of the vacation. But even these moments, and the eventual arrival of law enforcement, have their impact undermined by the film’s strangely sedate tone. Thankfully Lafosse ends the film on a grace note, not fully resolving the tensions within the family but giving Sana and her sons a moment of tranquility that reaffirms their love for one another.

Six Days in Spring had the right ingredients to be a lovely observational drama about a makeshift family enjoying a clandestine vacation, but the characters are so thinly sketched, and the dramatic tension so deflated at almost every opportunity, that it ends up being an amiable drama which doesn’t fully live up to its potential. Although it is an admirable attempt by Lafosse to take a lighter approach to family dramas after several emotionally taxing films, this proves that he is at his best when leaning into the darkness and complexity of his material. Thankfully naturalistic performances by the ensemble give the film much of its charm, and if nothing else the film is a visually pleasing travelogue of St. Tropez. While not quite the transformative tale that some would expect, it is a pleasant enough snapshot of a family in reconstruction.