Don't Worry, I'm Fine

Don't Worry, I'm Fine (2006) is adapted from Olivier Adam's novel and begins as a story about a disappearance. Nineteen year old Lili comes home from a holiday to find her twin brother Loïc gone. He fought with their father and nobody knows where he went. Lili stops eating and is hospitalised. Then postcards from Loïc start arriving. The subject is not finding the brother. It is how hard a family will work to avoid saying one thing out loud. Kad Merad, who plays the father, was known until then as a comedian, and won a César for this quiet performance. Mélanie Laurent won most promising actress, three years before Inglourious Basterds. The film received five César nominations and won two. In the final section one piece of information opens up and every scene you have watched changes shape. We are deliberately not saying more. It runs 96 minutes. Good for: quiet French drama, family secrets, and stories about siblings. Less good for: it contains anorexia and hospital scenes, and it is a story about loss. Anyone wanting something fast paced will not find it.