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Leaving
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Metascore
56 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

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  • Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sergi López, Yvan Attal
  • Summary: Suzanne is the bourgeois wife of a successful doctor, Samuel, living together with their children in the south of France. Weighted down by a thrill-less lifestyle and a stale marriage, Suzanne falls for the handsome young Ivan, an immigrant ex-con working on their property. Their affair is passionate, but Suzanne is wracked by guilt. When she confesses to her husband, his retaliation begins an ugly turn of events. (IFC Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Joe Williams
    Dec 17, 2010
    75
    In the infidelity drama Leaving, British reserve gets overtaken by French passion, and the subsequent events have the horrific momentum of a slow-motion car crash.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    60
    If Leaving is a romantic parable, it is a dark and depressing one, emphasizing not the sensuality of attraction but rather the obsessive side of romantic behavior. This is mad love for sure, and that is not usually a pretty picture.
  3. Empire
    Reviewed by: Liz Beardsworth
    60
    A vital, if slight, study of selfishness and fractured relationships, Leaving is illuminated by the odd, off-balancing twist.

See all 15 Critic Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. rowed08
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Partir (Leaving) is a very powerful and wonderfully crafted French film. I found it immediately interesting that within the first few minutes of the film we are thrown into a web of suspense as a rifle is shot in the middle of the night. I was enthralled by the immediate tension that was created and was on the edge of my seat for the remainder of the movie. I have always enjoyed movies that begin with the ending, which is why I found this movie to be so exciting. The film is directed by Catherine Corsini. Corsini is a French film director and screenwriter, directing 15 films since 1982. A particular film that she directed, La répétition, was entered in the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. One idea in the film that I found intriguing was the lengths a person will go to for happiness or love. A great example of this was at the end of the film when Suzanne shoots her husband with the rifle and flees from their home to be with her lover, Ivan. Suzanne is willing to give up her children and her life by murdering her husband rather than spend another minute with him. All she seems concerned about is being with Ivan and living her life happily by his side, sacrificing everything along the way. A second idea that I found captivating was the dynamics of marriage and responsibilities to the family. Suzanne seems to give up most of her responsibilities when she begins having her affair with Ivan. A prime example of this is when Suzanne and her husband’s extended family come for dinner and she steps outside to answer a call from Ivan. Her husband ends up catching her talking to him and locks her in their bedroom for the remainder of dinner. This represents how little consideration she had for spending time with her family and how much more her affair with Ivan meant to her. A “movie buff” comment I would like to make is the power of music, or lack thereof, in this film. An example of this is during the intimate scenes between Suzanne and Ivan. There is no music played during these scenes which I feel brings more intimacy to the moment. A second “movie buff” topic is the use of landscape to convey beauty in the film. An example of this is when Suzanne and Ivan are exploring their potential new home in the beautiful green mountains. In comparison, when we see Suzanne with her husband they always seem to be in places very plain and devoid of beauty. We see how in love Suzanne and Ivan are throughout the film, which I find portrayed through the beauty of the landscape. In contrast, we see how plain and loveless Suzanne’s marriage to her husband is through the lack of color and vibrancy in their home.… Expand
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