Petite maman (2021)'s activity

Very good film, touching and a slow burner

In Petite Maman ("Little Mother"), a little girl is brought to her recently deceased grandmother's house to help pack up her things. But out in the woods, she magically crosses paths with her own 8-year-old mother, back in the past. It's kind of like Back to the Future with children, and without the comedy and action shenanigans. The girl and her young mother, played by sisters to foster an uncanny resemblance that bemuses the adults in both time frames, become fast friends, the way kids do on summer vacations and such. And through this friendship, the girl gets to understand and come to terms with her mom's temperament, and learns lessons we only really come to later in life - our parents are people, just like us. At the end, we wonder if the mother remembers any of this, but the film's point of view - the girl's - necessarily keeps such answers from us. Petite Maman is quiet and naturalistic, but I felt like I was hit by a ton of bricks at the end. Perhaps it's its subtle examination of grief (for the grandmother, and by extension, for relationships), but I'm not sure. It touched something deeper in me and not so easy to name.