She decided to spend the first day of the rest of her life re-reading Twilight.

Cast: Jacques Gamblin, Zabou Breitman, Marc-André Grondin, Déborah François
Director: Rémi Bezançon
Screenwriter: Rémi Bezançon

Family life is a never ending source of rich material for filmmakers and writers alike (The Royal Tenenbaums, Brideshead Revisited, Pride and Prejudice to name a few). The poet Philip Larkin got to the nub of the thing with his famous line “They fuck you up your mum and dad”.

It is a sentiment reflected in The First Day of the Rest of Your Life, the second film by director, Rémi Bezançon. After a slow burn it has become a success in its home country (France) and winner of three Cesar awards. The film tracks a middle class family over the course of a twelve year period narrowed down to five key days.

The movie is based on the notion that each person has a number of decisive moments that change or set the course of their future. In this case it concentrates on the five members of the Duval family. They live in a large home in the suburbs of Paris. Father is a taxi driver, mother a student and three children, two boys and a younger sister.

The opening scene sees the eldest son Albert (Pio Marmaï) leaving home. He is the first out of the nest and this provides the catalyst for the slow decline of the family life as they have known it. His mother mourns the loss keenest, she complains “Our family is breaking up�.

The mother is Marie-Jeanne (played beautifully by Zabou Breitman) uncomfortable at her children growing up and her own ageing. She redefines herself as the eternal student, wearing flares and smoking pot. This, understandably, irritates her teenage daughter Fleur (François) who rebels. In fact, Fleur becomes so separate from her family that her newly self-obsessed mother forgets her 16^th birthday.

The father, Robert (Gamblin), meanwhile is a chain-smoking taxi driver, who feels a failure. He believes his father thinks he is a loser and he is in conflict with his opinionated son, Albert.

The middle child Raphael (Grondin) is the favourite of both his parents. He glides through life leaving everything until tomorrow “Procrastina…what?� he says when his mother accuses him of procrastinating in front of a video game. Raphael lives mainly in his own imagined universe. He enters an air guitar competition, with his imagined Stratocaster and meets the woman of his dreams.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life attempts to deal with difficult subject material: divorce, suicide, abortion and manages it with great humour and sensitivity. It is possible you will laugh and cry whilst watching this film.

Despite this The First Day of the Rest of Your Life makes the mistake of trying to cover too much ground. With the result that film feels shallow, a cartoon appreciation of the complex relationships in most families.

Also, confusingly instead of having one narrator the film has five voices, one for each member of the Duval household. The result of this is it’s hard to connect with any one of the characters. What could have been compelling drama becomes a voyeuristic peek into five strangers’ lives.

The director, Remi Bezancon, has said The First Day of the Rest of Your Life wasn’t based on his own family and upbringing. Which begs the question: should it have been? This is a sweetly entertaining film but one which lacks the realism recognisable family life.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life is released in cinemas on 20^th November via Metrodome

By Rebecca Douglas-Home