Les Nôtres – Our Own Movie Storyline. To the tight-knit community of Sainte-Adeline, Quebec, Magalie appears as a normal suburban high school sophomore surrounded by friends. But this popular teenage girl is harboring a shocking secret: she’s pregnant. When Magalie refuses to identify the father, suspicions among the townsfolk come to a boiling point and the layers of a carefully maintained social varnish eventually crack.
Les Nôtres (Our Own (English) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Jeanne Leblanc and released in 2020. The film stars Émilie Bierre as Magalie Jodoin, a teenage girl in the small town of Sainte-Adeline, Quebec who sets off a local scandal when she gets pregnant. The film’s cast also includes Marianne Farley as Magalie’s mother Isabelle, Paul Doucet as the town’s mayor Jean-Marc Ricard and Judith Baribeau as Jean-Marc’s wife Chantal Grégoire. The film premiered on February 26, 2020 at the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma.
About the Story
Les Nôtres (Our Own) tells the story of Magalie (Émilie Bierre), a 13-year-old French girl who becomes pregnant. Additionally, Magalie is grieving the loss of her father, which along with puberty seems to have directly led to her recent changes in attitude. This bit of information is revealed in dialogue only once, but the air in each frame is heavy with that loss. Her relationship with her newly single mother Isabelle (Marianne Farley) is strained, as most attempts to reconnect fail miserably.
As Magalie withdraws, she begins experimenting with makeup and taking on a false air of sexual confidence. The gulf between where Magalie is in life and where she wants to be is on full display in an early party scene where she and her young friends grind awkwardly to hip-hop. Then later we see her in a bed in a state of undress, looking proactively at the camera. Bierre is laid bare in this moment—both physically and emotionally. A scene later, we are returned to reality as Magalie walks outside, ready for a ride to school.
The problem is that, aside from these early scenes, “Les nôtres” is a coming-of-age drama noticeably lacking in a truthful adolescent perspective. We see Magalie with her friends. We see her flirting with her next-door neighbor Manuel (Léon Diconca-Pelletier), who seems to have genuine feelings for her. We see her struggles in school as she begins to show, both physically and socially. And while these scenes work, the meat of Leblanc’s movie doesn’t seem interested in Magalie much at all.
The film’s main thrust is the mystery of who impregnated Magalie. Because she won’t tell anyone, Magalie’s mother struggles to gain control of the situation. Meanwhile, Manuel’s adoptive mother Chantale (Judith Baribeau) is also dealing with rumors that he is the father. For the majority of the runtime, “Les nôtres” plays like a mid-budget suburban drama a la “American Beauty,” which joins the exploration of teen sexuality with themes of social deviance, moral decay, and the erosion of Reagan-era of family values.
Les Nôtres – Our Own (2021)
Directed by: Jeanne Leblanc
Starring: Émilie Bierre, Marianne Farley, Paul Doucet, Judith Baribeau, Marie-Ginette Guay, A. Patrice Moreau, Florence Patry-Jacques
Screenplay by: Jeanne Leblanc, Judith Baribeau
Production Design by: Charlotte Beaudoin-Poisson
Cinematography by: Tobie Marier Robitaille
Film Editing by: Aube Foglia
Costume Design by: Marjolayne Desrosiers
Art Direction by: Geneviève Dubé
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Oscilloscope Laborat
Release Date: February 26, 2020 (RVQC), June 18, 2021 (United States)
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