Claude Lelouche’s “At the End of the Day” is a journey of unexpected gifts

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In Claude Lelouche’s 51^st film, At the end of the day, Kad Merad (King of my castle, AF FFF2024, The Big Hit, AFFFF 2021) plays Lino, a Parisian criminal defence lawyer who, after diagnosis of an illness which renders him with no filter and unable to lie, packs up and leaves without telling anyone.

Having disappeared and made no contact, his family have been looking for him for weeks but the police say people are allowed to disappear and want nothing to do with it. His actress wife Léa (Elsa Zylberstein, who was wonderful as Simone Veil in Simone: Woman of the Century) and his lawyer friend, played by Michel Boujenah, decide to investigate themselves with the help of a private detective.

Coincidentally, Sandrine Massaro (Sandrine Bonnaire (Umami, and Happening, both from AFFFF 2022), Lino’s half sister, decides that this is the moment that she will track him down. She makes her way to his mother’s shop, and asks to meet her half-brother, something she obviously can’t do right now as he is missing.

Curiously, Sandrine Massaro is a character name Bonnaire has held before, even though it seems it’s not the same character. She played a character of the same name in another Claude Lelouche film, his 2021 L’amour c’est mieux que la vie.

Without a plan or a place in mind, Lino simply hitchhikes wherever people will take him. As a result, he ends up traversing various parts of France, including the Mont Saint Michel, Aix-en-Provence, Les Mans to name but a few, which makes the film a voyage through France without leaving the cinema.

A trumpet purchased in a bric-a-brac shop in Beziers allows Lino some music therapy and connection with others along his journey. Lino has several chance encounters, and engages with all walks of life. For example, he has some amusing conversations with a group of religious men on pilgrimage to the Camino de Sanitago.

The soundtrack was written by Grammy-nominated producer Ibrahim Maalouf. The songs featured in the film are performed by Eurovision runner-up Barbara Pravi, best known for her Eurovision song “Voilà”. In the film, she plays Lino’s daughter Barbara. Even Kad Merad joins Barbara in singing on one of the sings, Finalement, which makes appearances at the beginning and conclusion of the film.

Something that we found quite confusing when watching the film is that for someone who is apparently unable to lie, early in the film, Lino is telling all sorts of lies to the various people who picked him up, from being a defrocked priest, to a pornographic film director. It’s difficult to tell whether Lino knows that he is lying at this point or whether he is suffering from some sort of delusion and believes that he actually is those people.

Similarly, at various times throughout At the end of the day, World War II images are shown with soldiers parachuting out of planes. We can’t work out the relevance of these images, particularly because it’s not like Lino’s character is old enough to have fought so they’re not flashbacks. When he describes the condition to his family at the beginning of the film, he doesn’t’ mention any delusions or flashbacks just the lack of filter and inability to lie.

At the end of the day started to feel a little long at times, and could benefit from some more time in the editing suite. At 2 hours 8 minutes, it could easily lose about 20 minutes or so.

In an interview in the press materials, Claude Lelouche says that “Ultimately, the main theme of Finalement [the French title for the film] appears on the poster: Everything that happens to us is for our own good.” Lino’s disappearance and travels, prompted by his diagnosis, unexpectedly broaden his perspective and lead him toward treatment in a way he hadn’t planned. His journey ultimately serves his well-being, reinforcing the film’s central idea that life’s twists often work in our favour.

At the end of the day is an armchair voyage through France, with some lovely encounters along the way, which will make you reflect on health and happiness, and what it means to you when it’s taken away.

3 CROISSANTS

Matilda Marseillaise watched a screener of the film

At the end of the day was released in France in November 2024 under the title Finalement.

KEY INFO FOR THE ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE FILM FESTIVAL 2025

WHAT: Alliance Française French Film Festival 2025

WHERE & WHEN:

19/03 – 23/04 – ADELAIDE
06/03 – 08/04 – BRISBANE
06/03 – 02/04 – BALLARAT, VIC
08/03 – 02/04 – BALLINA, NSW
11/03 – 13/03 – BENDIGO, VIC
07/03 – 02/04 – BYRON BAY, NSW
06/03 – 09/04 – CANBERRA
25/03 – 15/04 – GOLD COAST
03/04 – 13/04 – HOBART
05/03 – 09/04 – MELBOURNE
03/04 – 06/04 – MOUNT GAMBIER, SA
13/03 – 16/04 – PERTH
26/03 – 31/03 – RENMARK, SA
04/03 – 09/04 – SYDNEY
02/04 – 09/04 – VICTOR HARBOR, SA
04/03 – 06/04 – PARRAMATTA, NSW
10/04 – 13/04 – BUNBURY, WA
12/04 – 21/04 – WARRAWONG, NSW