The Book of Wonders

Louis, twelve, falls into a coma after an accident and his mother Thelma finds his notebook: a list of things he wanted to do before dying. Thelma decides to work through the list item by item and travels as far as Australia. Lisa Azuelos adapted a bestselling novel. The story moves between the hospital room and the journey, and the real subject is not whether the boy will wake but the mother realising how little she knew her son. Alexandra Lamy leads. The film aims openly at emotion and does not hide it, with the landscape photography and the score working in the same direction. It opened in France in March 2023. Who it is for: viewers who like emotional family drama and road films. Who it is not for: anyone wanting restraint, since the film presses on feeling at every opportunity.