"This French rehab drama begins with some painfully realistic scenes showing the grim slog of maintaining a hidden drinking problem. At night, after her kids go to bed, mum of three Suzanne (Valerie Bonneton) gets a box down from a high cupboard. Inside is her stash of vodka, which she carefully siphons into mineral water bottles for the next day. There is no pleasure in her drinking; it makes her foggy at work and detached from her boys."
"Suzanne hits her rock bottom after a car accident; the court puts her sons into the care of their grandparents and orders her into rehab. First comes denial. Some wine with dinner, she tells the doctor who asks her about her drinking at the all-female unit. Other residents include Diane (Michele Laroque), a famous actor who haughtily lords it over the other women, and twentysomething Alice (Sabrina Ouazani), who describes herself as a party girl but whose stories, when she shares them in group, sound"
Better Days opens with painfully realistic scenes portraying Suzanne, a mother of three who hides vodka by siphoning it into mineral water bottles and drinks alone at night. Her alcoholism causes fogginess at work and emotional detachment from her sons. After a car accident, a court places her children with their grandparents and mandates rehab. At the all-female unit Suzanne initially denies the problem while meeting varied residents, including a haughty famous actor and a self-destructive young woman. Valerie Bonneton delivers a warm, unsentimental lead performance. The drama insightfully examines shame and female stigma, but some supporting acting feels exaggerated and a late Moroccan desert subplot strains credibility.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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