Joy and Uncertainty Share the Same Sunlight

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MOVIE REVIEW
Six Days in Spring (Six jours ce printemps-là)
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Genre: Drama
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 34m
Director(s): Joachim Lafosse
Writer(s): Joachim Lafosse
Cast: Eye Haïdara, Leonis Pinero Müller, Teodor Pinero Müller, Jules Waring, Emmanuelle Devos, Damien Bonnard
Where to Watch: shown at the 2025 San Sebastian Film Festival

RAVING REVIEW: SIX DAYS IN SPRING is the kind of film that draws its strength from quiet revelations rather than loud over-the-top moments. Director Joachim Lafosse, known for dissecting family dynamics with precision and empathy, once again turns his camera toward the struggles that ripple beneath everyday surfaces. This time, the focus is on Sana, a mother determined to give her children a taste of normalcy, even when circumstances make it nearly impossible. This film is about patience and growth in a story of discovery that takes us on the journey alongside the cast.

Eye Haïdara anchors the story as Sana, a woman whose resilience is constantly tested. When her plans for a proper spring holiday collapse, she makes a risky decision: to take her twins to her former in-laws’ empty villa on the Riviera, without asking permission and without telling anyone. At first, the premise suggests a lighthearted adventure—children running barefoot in the sunshine, a mother stealing moments of relief from life. However, Lafosse carefully transforms those six days into something more complex, marking them as a transition point between innocence and what lies ahead.

Haïdara gives Sana warmth, but it’s the undercurrent of worry that makes her performance compelling. She wants her children to feel free, to absorb laughter and life, yet every choice carries the tension of secrecy. The twins, played by Leonis and Teodor Pinero Müller, bring a natural ease to the film. Their interactions are believable, spontaneous, filled with the kind of small details—inside jokes, sibling squabbles—that remind us how fragile childhood can be when adult concerns loom nearby.

Lafosse’s style has often leaned toward the observational, and SIX DAYS IN SPRING fits that tradition. He doesn’t rush toward drama; instead, he lets small gestures reveal character. A child’s question left unanswered, the way sunlight filters into a quiet room—all become pieces of a puzzle. The villa itself plays a crucial role, its walls and terraces holding both nostalgia and unspoken tension. The luxury of the setting contrasts with the vulnerability of the family’s circumstances, making the getaway feel both idyllic and stolen.

The film explores displacement—physical, emotional, and generational. Sana is caught between the expectations of others and her own desire to give her children moments of joy. The villa, belonging to former in-laws, is both a refuge and a reminder of fractured ties. For the twins, the days feel suspended in time, a stretch of freedom they don’t fully understand, borrowed from the past. Lafosse uses this setup not to moralize but to observe how choices ripple outward, shaping how children see the world and how adults carry the weight of their past.

The Riviera landscapes are luminous, captured with an eye for natural beauty, yet the framing often introduces subtle constraints—a doorway half-shut, a horizon line that feels just out of reach. These visual decisions mirror the narrative: beauty surrounded by boundaries. Performances by Haïdara and the twins, as well as those of Jules Waring, Emmanuelle Devos, and Damien Bonnard, provide texture, although they remain more peripheral to the story. Lafosse’s focus is squarely on the trio, and the film benefits from that intimacy.

The film’s greatest strength is its refusal to simplify. There is no sweeping score to tell us how to feel. Instead, there are fragments of life, assembled with care, leaving space for the audience to interpret. Some viewers may find that ambiguity frustrating, wishing for sharper conflict or a definitive payoff. Others will see it as a mark of authenticity, a reminder that life-changing moments rarely come with clear outlines.

SIX DAYS IN SPRING feels poised for festival success. Lafosse has long been admired for his ability to render the intimate cinematic, and this latest work continues that trajectory. While not his most explosive film, it resonates with the quiet persistence of memory—the way a single week can become a dividing line in one’s life story. For audiences willing to lean into subtlety, the film offers rewards. It’s not about whether the vacation succeeds but about what those six days represent: the fragility of innocence, the resilience of a mother’s love, and the shadows that even sunlight cannot erase. Lafosse doesn’t need grand gestures to make those points; he trusts the small ones. That trust is what makes the film linger.

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[photo courtesy of STENOLA PRODUCTIONS]

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