The past few weeks, French filmmaker and actor Guillaume Canet (b. 1973) has been promoting his latest feature, “Nous finirons ensemble,” in various French cities. He also came over to Brussels, Belgium, to introduce the film at the UGC De Brouckère, accompanied by two of his actresses from the film, Marion Cotillard and Clémentine Baert.

“Nous finirons ensemble” is Mr. Canet’s long-awaited sequel to his memorable comedy-drama “Les petits mouchoirs” (2010, a.k.a. “Little White Lies”), a box office sensation in France and the biggest French-language moneymaker of the year grossing over $53 million worldwide. Although there were some echoes of John Sayles’ low-budget “Return of the Secaucus Seven” (1980), or Lawrence Kasdan’s “The Big Chill” (1983), the sparkling dialogue and the inspiring ensemble cast headed by François Cluzet and Marion Cotillard made “Les petits mouchoirs” a favorite for millions of moviegoers.

It took him a long time—in fact until he had watched “Les petits mouchoirs” on television one day—when the idea of a sequel became apparent to Mr. Canet: “The lives of the characters have changed, they are more mature now, children are born, some have lost a parent, some got divorced, they have a new partner or have different priorities in their lives. I thought it would be a good idea to revisit them and see how they are doing now. The film is more cynical since many of the characters have lost their ideals. But their friendship remains intact.”

During the Brussels event, Ms. Cotillard stated in a live interview for Belgian TV station RTL TVI that the past few weeks were exciting when touring France for various premieres, how thrilling it was to see how the characters had changed and especially how interesting it was for her to actually be there when the story came about, as film director and screenwriter Guillaume Canet is her real-life partner.

While he wrote “Les petits mouchoirs” in merely six weeks, it took Mr. Canet more time to write and rewrite his latest screenplay before he was able to convince his actors, but the group of friends reuniting in “Nous finirons ensemble” was worth the effort. The film is a winner: without giving away the story, it has all the right moves, the right words, the pacing is impeccable, the characters are more in-depth, and the dialogue is vibrant, moving, and funny, This sequel really works—like “The Godfather, Part II” (1974) was better than the 1972 original, “Nous finirons ensemble” is a class act, also better than its predecessor, with all the ingredients of becoming another box office champion.

Consequently, the Brussels premiere in the multiple UGC theatres where Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard and Clémentine Baert introduced the film that evening was an enchanting event for the audience that welcomed them with open arms before spending approximately two hours with an exceptional cast of old and new friends.

“Nous finirons ensemble” opens on May 1.

Brussels, Belgium
April 23, 2019

“Nous finirons ensemble” (2019, trailer)

NOUS FINIRONS ENSEMBLE (2019) DIR Guillaume Canet PROD Alain Attal SCR Guillaume Canet, Rodolphe Lauga CAM Christophe Offenstein ED Hervé de Luze CAST François Cluzet (Max), Marion Cotillard (Marie), Gilles Lellouche (Eric), Laurent Lafitte (Antoine), Benoît Magimel (Vincent), Pascale Arbillot (Isabelle), Clémentine Baert (Sabrine), José Garcia (Alain)