The Midwife

Living out of a suitcase, the impoverished Beatrice (Catherine Deneuve) turns up after a 30-year absence looking for her ex, the father of Claire (Catherine Frot), the daughter of the man who committed suicide when his mistress left. With debts and a brain tumor in tow, the boozy, gambling but energetic Deneuve seeks atonement for abandoning the rather cynical Frot who works at a maternity clinic that is about to be replaced by a sprawling but impersonal modern facility. So as the cautionary bonding progresses between these two women, it becomes evident that the film title refers to both: one by profession, the other having positioned herself as an intermediary “mother-figure” in the other’s life.

[NR]