AFFFF25 The Ties That Bind Us

A poignant adaptation of Alice Ferney’s book L'Intimité, Carine Tardieu’s film is a meditation on beliefs and convictions, as well as the transformation available to us when we pivot and grow. Sandra (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Anaïs in Love, AF FFF22), a feminist librarian, is not interested in children. In addition to this ambivalence, she has vowed never to become a mother. When her neighbour Alex (Pio Marmaï, The Three Musketeers I & II, AF FFF24) asks Sandra to watch his six-year-old son Elliot (César Botti) while his pregnant wife, Cécile, gives birth, Sandra sees it as just a one-off – until Cécile tragically dies after labour. Caught between grief and a desire for connection, Sandra, Alex, and Elliot’s lives become entangled in unforeseen ways, creating bonds and challenges as they wrestle with evolving definitions of love. Tender and never didactic, THE TIES THAT BIND US is a powerful reminder that it takes many shapes to form a family. Expertly navigating unexpected connections and how they can subtly but profoundly shift our worldviews, Tardieu's masterful drama presents an empathetic, non-judgmental observation of all the ways we form attachments – and how love triumphs where we least expect it.