Recent Golden Globe winner (and Oscar hopeful) Isabelle Huppert has enjoyed a remarkable year, cementing her status as one of the most magnetic, subtle and simply irresistible actresses on the planet. In her latest endeavour, Barrage, directed by Laura Schroeder in her sophomore feature film, the French superstar takes something of a backseat, instead allowing her daughter Lolilta Chammah to truly flourish, something she takes in her stride. It must run in the family.
To describe Chammah as a newcomer would be doing her a disservice, as she’s an actress who has been appearing on screen for almost thirty years – but rarely has she been gifted such a nuanced part to truly show off her credentials. She plays Catherine, determined to reconnect with her 10-year-old daughter Alba (Themis Pauwels) who has been raised by her grandmother Elisabeth (Huppert). Though somewhat ambiguous, we gather that Catherine had not felt fit to raise her daughter due to troubles with narcotics, but now, with her life back on track, and a loyal dog to keep her company, she feels it’s the right time to become the mother she had always intended to be – but knows she’ll have to convince her own mother to allow her access. Granted a trip to the park, it soon turns into a mini vacation, as they set off to the remote holiday home that belongs to the family.
This simplistic narrative is one deftly executed by Schroeder, and features three impressive lead performances, across three generations. On a more negative note, the film is persistently cheapened by the mawkish indie soundtrack that dictates the tone in a way that is simply not representative of the narrative playing out. But hey, if that’s the paramount criticism of this piece, then it’s clearly still a film worth indulging in.