{"id":55435,"date":"2026-04-26T19:38:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55435"},"modified":"2026-04-26T19:38:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:38:55","slug":"leave-one-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55435","title":{"rendered":"Leave One Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Leave One Day (Partir un jour)\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Am\u00e9lie Bonnin\u2019s Leave One Day<\/em> (Partir un jour) is light and charming, working a familiar theme with a twist \u2013 not quite a musical, the film is a dramedy with songs. Singer-songwriter Juliette Armanet shines as C\u00e9cile, imbuing the character with a mix of strength and vulnerability. Winner of the television competition Top Chef, she is about to open her own restaurant in Paris, together with her partner Sofiane (Tewfik Jallab). Her father\u2019s heart attack compels her to return to the small town in the Loir-et-Cher region, where her parents own a roadside restaurant. There, predictably, unresolved issues with her parents turn up the heat in the kitchen, while the encounter with her high school crush Rapha\u00ebl Tenreiro (Bastien Bouillon), ignites a different kind of spark. In the typical \u201ccelebrity daughter returns to her hometown after a long absence\u201d the protagonist resolves her issues and discovers that true happiness lies neither in fame nor success, but in family, discarding her city boyfriend for her faithful high school sweetheart. Bonnin appears to be aiming for something more subtle and realistic, there are no dramatic reconciliations or epiphanies. Instead, there are the small moments of everyday life \u2013 conversations with her mother, Fanfan (Dominique Blanc), and father, G\u00e9rard (Fran\u00e7ois Rollin), her old friends and others, in the kitchen of the restaurant, at a local fair, and in C\u00e9cile\u2019s childhood bedroom.<\/p>\n

These moments resonate even more as they are often accompanied by songs, expressing feelings beyond words. The soundtrack is composed of songs popular in France, that will probably be familiar to French-speaking audiences. But one need not recognize the songs to enjoy their effect. Unlike many musicals, there are no big numbers here, rather, the music is woven into the narrative, much like music is present in our everyday lives. Some of my favorite scenes were songs, from the ebullient \u201cAlors on danse\u201d (Stromae) as C\u00e9cile and Sofiane dance out the tensions of the two week countdown to the opening of their restaurant, to the sombre and raw rendition of \u201cMourir sur scene\u201d (Dalida) by Gerard as he works in the kitchen, singing \u201cI want to die performing\u201d not realizing that C\u00e9cile is standing in the doorway, listening. A heartfelt conversation between C\u00e9cile and her mother takes place in the family van, and the frustration and worry over G\u00e9rard stubborn refusal to care for his health is lightened by their singing \u201cParoles paroles\u201d (Dalida and Alain Delon, music by Gianni Ferrio).<\/p>\n

Although the film encompasses a number of serious issues \u2013 G\u00e9rard\u2019s precarious health, the struggle to keep the restaurant going, C\u00e9cile\u2019s pregnancy (not a spoiler, it\u2019s mentioned in the first few minutes), the tensions of opening a restaurant, and her respective relationships with Sofiane and Rapha\u00ebl \u2013 they are never explored in depth. This is both to the film\u2019s detriment and benefit. The lack of depth and resolution render Leave One Day<\/em> a more superficial and bland film, even frustrating in its refusal to seriously engage with the problems raised within. However, this approach also enhances its lightness \u2013 despite some heavy themes, resulting in a feel-good film with pop-music flair.<\/p>\n

Director: Am\u00e9lie Bonnin; Screenwriters: Bonnin, Dimitri Lucas; Cinematographer: David Cailley; Editor: H\u00e9lo\u00efse Pelloquet; Composers: PR2B, Keren Ann Zeidel, Thomas Kramayer, Germain Izydorczyk, Emma Prat, Theo Kaiser, Chilly Gonzales; Cast: Juliette Armanet, Bastien Bouillon, Fran\u00e7ois Rollin, Tewfik Jallab, Dominique Blanc<\/p>\n

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Am\u00e9lie Bonnin\u2019s Leave One Day (Partir un jour) is light and charming, working a familiar theme with a twist \u2013 not quite a musical, the film is a dramedy with songs. Singer-songwriter Juliette Armanet shines as C\u00e9cile, imbuing the character with a mix of strength and vulnerability. Winner of the television competition Top Chef, she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[96,295,197],"class_list":["post-55435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-film","tag-french-film","tag-musical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55435"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55438,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55435\/revisions\/55438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}