A mother in her forties in search of meaning, five teenagers under tension… A family portrait as accurate as it is moving, signed by Nathan Ambrosioni, a young 24-year-old director.
Maturity does not wait for the number of years. The director of Tony with family, Nathan Ambrosioni, is only 24 years old. The story of Antonia, nicknamed Toni, he wrote it when he was 20, at a time when he wondered about his future, like the heroine of his film. The role of Toni, he drew it thinking of Camille Cottin. He had only two independent horror films to his credit and a feature film released in 2018, paper flags which was already a family affair.
An overwhelmed mother in full questioning
As its title suggests, family is at the heart of Nathan Ambrosioni’s new feature film. A large family, made up of five teenagers never far from boiling, that Toni, 42, raises alone. The first scene of the film brilliantly synthesizes everything that the mother of a family has to manage in terms of egos, complexes, rivalries, anxieties, susceptibilities… Nothing is simple for the intrepid mother, not even pick up his offspring in the car at the end of the course! So, Toni constantly navigates between treasures of diplomacy and rants. When her children are away, she takes care of the house, the cleaning, the laundry, day after day.
In her youth, Toni had her heyday thanks to a famous telecrochet, and she even recorded a hit. Twenty years and five children later, she sings in the evening in a restaurant to bring back a few euros… But she is exhausted. As her two eldest children are about to leave home to study, she wonders about her own future and the meaning of her life. Discovering the many study opportunities available to her children, she began to dream of a university education for herself. She then embarked on research and procedures.
Finally think about yourself
How to follow your personal aspirations when you are a single mother in full-time charge of a large sibling who questions themselves, discovers themselves, and sometimes suffers in secret? How can you finally think about yourself, listen to your inner voice, when your children are constantly blaming you for not hearing theirs? How to emancipate oneself from the shackles and the image of the middle-aged housewife, supposed to devote herself body and soul to her family? This is the fight that Toni decides to lead, even if it means arousing contrasting reactions. “I’m so proud to be your mother but I can’t be just that. I have to find a meaning”she will proclaim to her teenagers.
At only 24 years old, director Nathan Ambrosioni signs both a poignant portrait of a woman and a moving family portrait, with striking accuracy and delicacy. Camille Cottin is a prodigious arbiter of the tensions and quarrels – depicted with great finesse – which agitate the daily life of the siblings. The young actors, including Léa Lopez in the role of Toni’s eldest daughter, also deliver a formidable performance. A little gem of sensitivity.
Gender : drama
Director : Nathan Ambrosioni
Actresses and actors : Camille Cottin, Léa Lopez, Thomas Gioria, Louise Labèque, Oscar Pauleau, Juliane Lepoureau, Catherine Mouchet…
Country : France
Duration : 1h36
Exit : September 6, 2023
Distributer : StudioCanal
Synopsis : At 42, Toni, whose real first name is Antonia, is raising her five children alone, a real full-time job. Former telecrochet star in her youth, she also sings in the evening to feed her family. Today, his two eldest are preparing to leave for university. Toni wonders: what will become of her when all her children have left the family nest? Is it still possible for him to reinvent himself?