Vivre, Mourir, Renaître (French) [To Live, To Die, To Live Again]

There is something rare about a film that genuinely transports you back in time, and this 2024 Cannes premiere does exactly that for the 1990s and the HIV/AIDS reality that gay and bisexual men were living through during those years. It plays less like a modern film looking back and more like something that could have actually been made in that era, a proper time capsule. When you think about it, gay-themed films set against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis are surprisingly hard to come by, which makes this one feel even more necessary. The emotions it brings out, and the love and respect it carries for that period, are handled with real care, and the story at its centre is warm enough that pretty much anyone could find themselves connecting to it.

The story opens in 1990, where young couple Sammy and Emma both end up kissing a stranger who offers them ecstasy at a party. That moment shakes something loose in Sammy and he tells Emma the truth about his bisexuality. She does not see it coming but she takes it well. Life moves forward and a few years later the two of them have a son named Nathan and are on the verge of settling into a new flat. Their neighbor turns out to be Cyril, a well-known photographer, who catches sight of Sammy and Nathan and immediately feels a creative spark, asking if he can photograph them. Cyril is HIV positive and managing it with AZT, stable enough in his health. Between Cyril and Sammy there is a pull that neither of them can really fight, and they end up in a relationship. Cyril is upfront with Sammy about his status and Sammy does not flinch. Emma eventually spots them together but instead of falling apart over it, the three of them sit down and work through it like adults. Everything is holding together until Sammy gets ill, and the news that comes back is brutal. He has full blown AIDS and has been carrying the virus since long before Cyril ever came into the picture, with only a few years ahead of him. Emma tests positive too, though her viral load is manageable. Nathan, thankfully, is negative. The three of them try to make the most of the time they have left together, and Cyril even proposes marrying Emma so that Nathan will be able to inherit from him when he eventually goes. After Sammy dies, time passes and Cyril stays woven into Nathan's life, but Emma, being the grounded practical person she is, comes to the conclusion that she and Nathan need to find their footing on their own and that Cyril needs to be free to move forward too. The loss hits Cyril hard and his photography dries up almost completely. Emma ends the marriage but stays close as a friend, and it is her who eventually helps him put together a final exhibit built around photographs from a trip to Italy that all four of them, Emma, Sammy, Cyril and Nathan, took together when they still had that time.

A story like this could have easily drowned in melodrama, and the fact that it does not is something I genuinely respect the filmmakers for. Instead it becomes this quietly mature look at open relationships and family structures that do not fit the traditional mould, and watching these three build something real and tight-knit together is something a lot of people may struggle to wrap their heads around but the film presents it so naturally that it just works. The way it moves through all the different emotional registers, the early charm of how these people find each other, the shocks and surprises, the grief, the acceptance, even little moments that feel almost dreamlike, it all flows together and never feels forced. That tenderness comes a lot from how genuinely lovely these characters are and from actors who feel completely at home in their roles. Sammy in particular is a real find. You completely buy why both Emma and Cyril would fall for him, and he also comes across as totally believable as just a regular warm dad. The film is beautifully shot throughout, and the Italy sequences especially have this gorgeous quality to them. Even the way Sammy's death is handled, his quiet final goodbyes, is done with so much restraint that it hits harder because of it rather than in spite of it. The film also does not leave you in darkness, there is a sense of a future worth looking forward to, Emma carrying real hope for a healthy life ahead, Cyril finding someone new, the door left open rather than shut. I came away from this genuinely moved and really glad I watched it. It does make me wonder though how much younger audiences today, people two or three generations removed from what the 80s and 90s actually looked and felt like, will be able to connect with it. There are whole generations now who know very little about what that period really meant for so many people. But I hope this film travels and finds the audience it deserves. (7.5/10)