Finding a Way Out of Anger

MOVIE REVIEWS
Diane in the Loop (Un Détour Par Diane)
 -     

Genre: Drama, Comedy, Western
Year Released: 2026
Runtime: 1h 32m
Directors: Ann Sirot, Raphaël Balboni
Writers: Ann Sirot, Raphaël Balboni
Cast: Ninon Borsei, Sandrine Blancke, Lucas Meister, Peter Van Den Begin, Naidra Ayadi, Jo Deseure
Where to Watch: shown at the 2026 Venice International Film Festival

RAVING REVIEW: The cowboy hat and honestly the idea of it looks almost absurd at first, and that's exactly why it matters. DIANE IN THE LOOP takes an idea that could have resulted in an oppressively solemn family drama and dresses parts of it like a Western, allowing Writers/directors Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni to talk about anger, revenge, inherited trauma, sexuality, and recovery without trapping their characters inside a movie defined exclusively by suffering.

Diane (Ninon Borsei) learns that her mother was raped years before Diane was born, and the discovery twists around the way she understands her family almost instantly. Her response is anger, accompanied by the conviction that something needs to be done. Her mother (Sandrine Blancke) has lived with the knowledge for decades and wants something very different. She isn't looking for someone else to carry her rage. She wants the freedom to finally become the person her life was stolen from becoming by what happened to her.

That gives DIANE IN THE LOOP a strong entry into storytelling. Trauma doesn't belong exclusively to the person who experienced it, because secrecy, behavior, fear, compromise, and the decisions made can reach people who don't even know where those things began. Diane wasn't there, but she recognizes the effects throughout the family once she understands their origin. What feels like new information also feels strangely familiar, as though someone has finally handed her the missing explanation for things she has sensed her entire life.

Borsei has the difficult job of making Diane's anger understandable without softening a character who can be abrasive, impulsive, and exhausting. The film doesn't ask us to excuse everything she does simply because we understand where some of it comes from. Borsei finds the vulnerability underneath Diane without turning every confrontation into a plea for sympathy, and the performance gets considerably more interesting because Diane is allowed to remain complicated.

Her anger also doesn't fit into the usual revenge structure. Diane wants action because action feels more focused than accepting that something horrible happened years ago and permanently altered another person's life. Revenge provides a destination. Listening to what her mother actually wants requires Diane to acknowledge that this isn't her story to control, even though she has inherited part of it.

Blancke makes the conflict hurt because Mom's response isn't nearly as dramatic as Diane expects. Her priorities are rooted in reclaiming time rather than settling a score, including rediscovering parts of herself that disappeared beneath decades of survival and conformity. That manages to be both painful and hopeful as a woman recognizes how much of her life was shaped by an act forced upon her, especially as she begins to ask who she might have become without it.

Sirot and Balboni refuse to reduce that reality to a simple tragedy that broke her. Comedy has always had a place in their work, and DIANE IN THE LOOP repeatedly finds uncomfortable humor around the edges of conversations that could have become unbearable in another movie. Peter Van Den Begin's father is especially useful in that regard. He's affectionate, often oblivious, occasionally ridiculous, and a reminder that people can live right beside another person's pain without fully comprehending its weight.

The Western framework could easily have become a distraction, but it gradually proves essential to what Sirot and Balboni are doing. Diane dresses and sometimes behaves as if she's been handed a mission, while the landscapes become increasingly open as the story moves away from Brussels and toward the North Sea. The visuals turn a private family history into something much larger, giving Diane's search for justice the scale she feels it deserves.

There's an intentional contradiction inside that choice. Westerns traditionally offer recognizable enemies, confrontations, and some possibility that violence can resolve what’s been broken. Diane wants her situation to function according to those rules, because identifying a villain and pursuing punishment is easier than dealing with trauma that has already spread across decades. The movie slowly dismantles the fantasy that one decisive confrontation can repair everything.

Julie Roué's score helps preserve the Western without turning the movie into a parody of one. Guitar and viola da gamba create something familiar enough to evoke the genre while maintaining a slight peculiarity that fits Diane's emotional displacement. Fiona Braillon's cinematography also makes strong use of open spaces and landscapes, particularly as the family relationships begin to separate into smaller, more intimate combinations.

The relationship between Diane and her mother remains much more important than the stylistic experiment surrounding it. One wants the past acknowledged so loudly that nobody can ignore it again, while the other needs permission to stop organizing her life around what happened. Neither response is treated as wrong. Their conflict comes from the painful realization that loving someone doesn't give you ownership over the way that person survives.

Lucas Meister's portrayal of the cyclist complicates Diane's assumptions about men without reducing them to a simple answer. Their attraction sits beside distrust, curiosity, family history, and the awareness that men and women don't enter relationships untouched by everything that came before them. DIANE IN THE LOOP doesn't pretend one decent man resolves Diane's feelings about masculinity, and Meister's character becomes more valuable because the film doesn't burden him with that impossible assignment.

The movie occasionally becomes more obvious than its characters need to be. Sirot and Balboni clearly have a lot they want to discuss, from the aftermath of sexual violence and generational secrecy to misogyny, heterosexual relationships, female anger, identity, and the cultural backlash that followed #MeToo. A few conversations carry so much thematic responsibility that the characters briefly sound like they're explaining the movie rather than living inside it.

Those moments don't erase how unusual the overall approach feels. This is a film about rape that isn't interested in recreating the assault for dramatic impact or making the victim relive it for our benefit. The violence matters because of the decades afterward: the choices made, the identity suppressed, the information withheld, and the daughter who discovers she has been living inside consequences she never understood.

Sirot and Balboni also understand that recovery doesn't have to mean becoming calmer, nicer, or easier for everyone around you. Diane's journey isn't about extinguishing her anger. It's about discovering where that anger belongs, what it can accomplish, and when carrying someone else's pain stops being an act of solidarity and starts preventing both people from moving forward.

DIANE IN THE LOOP works because its visual style doesn't make light of what happened; it makes room for the people who survived after it. There are moments when the mix of comedy, Western imagery, romance, family drama, and social commentary becomes crowded, and a few of the film's ideas could have trusted the audience more. Those imperfections are attached to a movie taking genuine chances with material that is usually treated in far more predictable ways.

By the end, revenge has become far less interesting than communication, and anger hasn't disappeared so much as found somewhere healthier to go. DIANE IN THE LOOP doesn't offer the comforting idea that one generation can undo everything passed down by the one before it. It finds something more believable in the possibility that understanding what was inherited may finally allow the next generation to decide what doesn't need to be carried any farther.

Please visit https://linktr.ee/overlyhonestr for more reviews.

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. My social media accounts can also be found on most platforms by searching for 'Overly Honest Reviews'.

I’m always happy to hear from my readers; please don't hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.

[photo courtesy of LES FILMS DU FLEUVE, MARIANNE PRODUCTIONS]

DISCLAIMER:
At Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.

Amazon Affiliate Links:
Additionally, this site contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may receive a commission. This affiliate arrangement does not affect our commitment to honest reviews and helps support our site. We appreciate your trust and support as you navigate these links.