This didn't work for me I'm afraid. The lack of sensationalism and the realism should be applauded but I'm sorry the first half is just dull. As the impact on this poor woman starts to show (based on a true event) you're left feeling that the actual beginning and end of the issues were the woman's mental health. The situation she was in, at least depicted here does not explain the crime.

Trivial, & disjointed.

Hard story....harrowing to watch....but exceptionally well conveyed....

There is an old saying that as embracing as family can be, it can also be a trap. With the sobering movie "Our Children," we are given the most extreme example of that possible, beginning with hints of an unspeakable crime that is eventually revealed. For Murielle(Emilie Dequenne), her own family history has been tumultuous before meeting Mounir(Tahar Rahim), as exemplified by her difficult older sister Francoise(Stephane Bissot). Even at the young age of 20, Murielle is ready to settle down with Mounir, even as she is cautioned by Mounir's stepfather Andre(Niels Arestrup) to take her time. She doesn't. Still, this is a family with its warning signs if one is looking for them. Andre is only married to Fatima(Mounia Raoui) so she could get her papers. But otherwise he has no apparent outside social life, as he is invited along to Mounir and Murielle's honeymoon. Mounir has failed his exams, so he has settled down to work in Andre's office.

Joachim Lafosse has always had an extraordinary skill at presenting the most devastating stories in deceptively simple style. The viewer frequently has the feeling of being a sort of "fly on the wall" creating an almost voyeuristic tension. It is as if we have snuck into very intimate moments that whether we like it or not, it creates a disquieting tone -- all too realistic in feeling without any escape. In many ways, the camera's viewpoint pulls the audience into a position of not only caring but feeling helpless as we watch these people unravel. He managed a very similar feat in 2007's quietly intense "Private Property" However, in this brilliant film he explores an intelligent young woman's emotional and mental break which lead her to commit filicide. Along the way the film probes into some very difficult human conflicts in an almost casual way. This is a challenging, thought-provocking film that refuses to hold our hand -- and without ever leaning on obvious cinema ploys or techniques -- the film manages a violent shock. We don't have to see what has happened. And Lafosse is not an artist who holds your hand. This tragedy is all the more tragic because it could have been prevented. Absolutely stunning and transformative performance by Emilie Dequenne. It is a rare example of skill both in front and behind the camera.

As the story gives away its ending at the beginning it needs to have a strong middle part - sadly it doesn't. It merely plods along with its various interludes of extended family relationships across a fair number of years - from this we are supposed to see our female lead descent into despair and madness, but with the long timeframe of the film it just doesn't work, and we are left to fill in the blanks ourselves at to how this really happens. It's a very uneven story.

wow.....sad.....moving.....touching....very very very very sad.....i have just seen this movie 4 the very 1st time n think that this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch......its got a good cast of actors/actressess throughout this movie i think that baya belal, mounia raoui, tahar rahim, emilie dequenne, niels arestrup, play good roles/parts throughout this movie.....man this movie is such a really really sad movie 2 watch as it makes you cry....man this is such a really sad movie 2 watch but it is so fantastic movie 2 watch.....i think that the director of this art house/international/drama movie had done a great job of directing this movie because you never know what 2 expect throughout this movie, it is such a really really sad movie 2 watch.....its got a good soundtrack throughout this movie.....man this is such a powerful drama movie 2 watch, as it is based on a real-life story...... Critical response was generally strong and the film was nominated for seven Magritte Awards, winning four, including Best Film and Best Director for Lafosse. The film was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "In one of her strongest leading roles to date, Dequenne (The Girl on the Train, Rosetta) does a remarkable job depicting Murielle's wavering psychological states as she heads for oblivion, and an extended sequence-shot where she drives home while singing a Julien Clerc song is particularly unforgettable man this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch, it is such a powerful drama movie 2 watch, it is such a really really sad movie 2 watch but it is so so so fantastic......i think that this is such a really well written/acted/directed movie 2 watch, its got a great cast throughout this movie....man this is such a powerful drama movie 2 watch it is so beautifully directed, man this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch with a great cast throughout this movie...... It is based on a real-life incident involving a woman (Genevieve Lhermitte), who killed her five children. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival under the title Loving Without Reason, where Émilie Dequenne won the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Actress man this is such a really really sad movie 2 watch but it is 1 of the best movies of 2012/2013, it is such a really really sad movie 2 watch but it is so so fantastic movie 2 watch......

Marriage is not fun. Most girls fall for love only to get burned. Love is not enough. Cultures do matter. Religion do matter. Beautiful, but sad movie telling the reality surrounding our lives. This is why I love watching European movies. Realism at its best with superior and fat orchestral background music.

You learn the tragedy at the start of the movie, but how and why is the movie. It's a "quietly violent psychodrama." Emilie Duquenne won best actress at Cannes for this movie.

Aterrador relato sobre una mujer que poco a poco cae en la desesperacion, al tener una depresion post-parto sucesiva (ya que tiene cuatro hijos), a quien no le ayuda tener como marido a un radical marroqui y vivir en casa del jefe de este y proveedor de su familia. Intenso, efectivo y sobre todo, muy bien actuado. Muy recomendable. (Texto intencionalmente sin acentos).

Que historia!!!! Super recomendable.

The most obvious and significant is the heroine Murielle's decline from a beautiful, loving, young spirit to a depressed, oppressed, despairing drudge.From her honeymoon through her four child bearings she loses her sense of self, her liberty, her control over her life. Her last action is her tragic resolve to save her three daughters and one son from their being ruined by the sexist, patriarchal system that destroyed her. Though her Moroccan husband Mounir claims he doesn't want to raise his daughters in his sexist homeland, Murielle is destroyed by a European patriarch in Belgium. Dr. Pinget provides the antithetic arc. His apparent generosity and care are gradually exposed as heartless self-serving power and authority.He pays for Mounir and Murielle's honeymoon, then agrees to join them. He shares his house with them, then to keep them buys them an estate where he again lives with them. His callousness towards Murielle drives her tragedy. The tension between the Moroccan family and the fat, hedonistic, impotent but suffocatingly powerful white European doctor adds another compelling theme.Any move to independence is suppressed as an affront to nature and to reason. The film opens with a woman crying, begging that her four children be buried in Morocco. So it's a whodunit. Except here the killer is the true victim.

I've done something really bad...

The opening scene removes any real shock from this hideous (based on a) true story It's a complex psychological study of relationships and depression, that's splendidly well made and naturally performed, in which the only remaining element of mystery to the crime is why?

Outstanding direction and storytelling. Does not rely on sensationalism and cheap suspense treatment but instead takes us intelligently through this very sensitive subject.

Based on a real-life tragedy, Our Children has a quietly crushing effect on the viewer. Emilie Dequenne gives a powerful performance as the depressed mother. Though by flashing the final moments at the very start of the film, the director takes away from the shock that awaits the destiny of the characters, it is still an intense psychologically stirring film.

A bleak, slow-burn drama about a mothers descent into infanticidal depression. Not for the depressive.

I was very spectacle within the first half hour, watching life through different speeds and the start of a family, clearly leading to a tragedy. The the first hour is absent of any real lessons or deep morals and only demonstrates the struggles of having young children. Arestrup and Rahim work magic together again, and obviously have learned to have some of the greatest on screen chemistry between an elder and a young man in the last decade, thanks to the writing of Thomas Bidegain. Within the second half of the film you really get to see the tension, the somewhat psychotic lifestyle that is taking place. The normal struggles of a family become terrifying realizations of hostile behavior, anxiety and depression. Without real patience and any interest in dysfunctional situations, someone might find this film 'boring' and possibly even decide not to finish, but I would see that as a regretful decision.

À PERDRE LA RAISON (2012) País:Bélgica Realizador: Joachim Lafosse Elenco: Niels Arestrup, Tahar Rahim, Émilie Dequenne "À perdre la raison" (baseado numa história verídica) é um filme de autor, um daqueles filmes em que os longos silêncios e um olhar dizem mais do que qualquer diálogo. Com um ritmo lento e sinuoso, o filme vai gradualmente envolvendo o espectador na sua elaborada teia, apesar da sensação de que não acontece muita coisa na história. Uma história que, no entanto, esconde mais camadas do que pode parecer à primeira vista, onde os innuendos se sobrepõem às evidências. Lafosse retrata magistralmente, em duas cenas, a ambiguidade da relação entre Mounir (Tahar Rahim) e o seu pai adoptivo,o médico Andre Pinget (Niels Arestrup), levantando dúvidas no espectador sobre a sua verdadeira natureza; uma discussão acalorada entre Mounir e o irmão, ou um momento inofensivo entre pai e filho que apreciam uma relaxante sauna, são suficientes para mostrar a influência de André sobre Mounir e os laços que parecem ir para além do afecto paterno-filial. Além disso, o filme toca em temas interessantes, como o choque entre culturas ou os polémicos casamentos de conveniência - alguns dos personagens casam para que um dos cônjuges possa obter a nacionalidade e permanecer no país. Logo no início do filme ficamos a saber que algo de terrível aconteceu com Murielle (Emilie Dequenne) e com a sua família. Para descobrir exactamente o quê, só temos de seguir sua vida, desde o momento em que o apaixonado Mounier a pede em casamento. Depois do nascimento do seu terceiro filho, o casal começa a lutar com a falta de espaço e de dinheiro, pelo que decidem mudar-se para a casa de André, e é então que os problemas começam. Após um arranque promissor, pelo meio a história sofre devido a quebras de ritmo, conseguindo recuperar na parte final. Há muitas maneiras de retratar o horror. Pode-se optar pela forma mais explícita, ou fazer o que fez Lafosse: permitir que o público imagine a cena sem com isso perder nenhum impacto dramático. A subtileza desta cena final gelou-me literalmente o sangue nas veias. Em suma, um bom filme, ao melhor estilo do cinema europeu.(16/20)

Torture! I don't care how good the acting or important the the psychological issues this is a movie to stay away from unless you simply want to immerse yourself in morbid depression followed by a tragic end. I walked out.