This French rehab drama begins with some painfully realistic scenes showing the grim slog of maintaining a hidden drinking problem. At night, after her kids go to bed, mum of three Suzanne (Valérie Bonneton) gets a box down from a high cupboard. Inside is her stash of vodka, which she carefully siphons into mineral water bottles for the next day. There is no pleasure in her drinking; it makes her foggy at work and detached from her boys. Bonneton, better known in France for comedy roles, is terrific, with her warm, worn performance, not a scrap of sentimentality in it.
Suzanne hits her rock bottom after a car accident; the court puts her sons into the care of their grandparents and orders her into rehab. First comes denial. “Some wine with dinner,” she tells the doctor who asks her about her drinking at the all-female unit. Other residents include Diane (Michèle Laroque), a famous actor who haughtily lords it over the other women, and twentysomething Alice (Sabrina Ouazani), who describes herself as a party girl but whose stories, when she shares them in group, sound more self-destructive than fun.
Better Days is for the most part a modest, honest-feeling drama, insightful about shame and stigma, particularly for female alcoholics, though it is let down a bit by some over-the-top supporting acting. It falters a bit in the last 30 minutes or so too, when Suzanne travels with Diane and Alice to the desert in Morocco for a dune race in jeeps. The trip is organised by mechanic Denis (Clovis Cornillac) who has been teaching the women car maintenance. The believability blows away with the sand, as a predictable plot about camaraderie and working together takes over.
• Better Days is in UK cinemas from 26 September.
