Deux

Pensioners Nina and Madeleine have lived next door to each on the top floor of their building in the South of France for decades. Seemingly good neighbours, at least that is what everybody thinks, they are in fact lovers, passionately in love with each other. Now Nina wants to shed all secrecy, but Madeleine hesitates, fearing the response of her two adult children who are convinced that their deceased father was the love of Madeleine's life. Being next-door neighbours, Nina and Mado, Nina's affectionate pet name for Madeleine, can see each other all they want. An unexpected event puts a stop to this, to Nina's devastation. Meanwhile Madeleine's daughter Anna is beginning to suspect something.

Deux could have become a sentimental melodrama, a pitfall Italian director Filippo Meneghetti convincingly manages to avoid in his feature debut. The film is a true and nuanced love story, carried by the superb acting of Barbara Sukowa and Martine Chevallier. In the end, love overcomes all obstacles.