Along Came Love (Temps d’aimer) is a French period drama set in the 1950s and 60s about repressed desires, forbidden love and the effects of living with the resulting shame. The film was directed by Katell Quillévéré, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Gilles Taurand. It premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival (where it was in competition for the Queer palm) and was released in France later that year. However it only received its UK release last week. 

Madeleine Villedieu, played by Anaïs Demoustier, had a brief but passionate love affair with a Nazi doctor. This resulted in her being shamed in front of her village when the allies liberated the town from their German occupiers; it also resulted in a son. François Delambre, played by Vincent Lacoste, is a closet homosexual. Whilst homosexuality has been legal in France since the end of the eighteenth century, it still carried a certain stigma in the 1950s.

At the beginning of the film, Madeleine is working as a waitress in the restaurant of a large seaside hotel, and caring for her son. She has no idea whether his father survived the war. Here she meets François, and they tentatively begin a love affair. Madeleine confesses her shameful secret almost at the beginning of their relationship; François keeps his to himself. Their affair blossoms and they marry. The film follows a period of some fifteen years, charting their lives, as François’ studies to become a professor and Madeleine works as a manageress in a nightclub to pay the bills. However, the shames of their pasts are never too far behind them. When Madeleine discovers her husband’s sexuality, they somehow manage to build on their deep love for each other, and she has a second child

At times, a little melodramatic and unsubtle, the story is very personal to Quillévéré, who has stated that it is autobiographical, inspired by her grandmother. Anaïs Demoustier gives a wonderful, nuanced performance – so much of the story in the first half-hour of the film happens in her facial expressions. François Delambre is also excellent throughout. I found I cared very much for both these central characters, and as such I was happy to spend time with them and found it easy to sympathise with their plight.

Along Came Love is poignant and sad, but time spent watching it is time well spent. I thoroughly recommend it!