Rust and Bone (De Rouille et d'os)

Rust & Bone, Jacques Audiard’s heartrending and audacious follow-up to 2009′s A Prophet, focuses on two inherently damaged individuals - Ali, a single father with a five-year-old son, and Stephanie, an eccentric loose cannon and whale trainer at a local aquatic zoo. The two meet one night outside of a busy nightclub, a fateful exchange between them marking the beginning of an initially uneasy if increasingly important friendship that brings a discernible sense of normalcy to their respective lives.

Following a tragic accident at Stephanie’s place of employment, the stage is set rather early on as we quickly get a feel for what each central character struggles with on a day-to-day basis, each of their predicaments growing more dire until they receive their requisite daily dose of, well, each other.

Nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes this year.

“Jacques Audiard’s moving love story, which surges out of the screen like a flood tide, deserves to be awash with awards.”
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“An edgy, fearlessly emotional romance.” 
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“The movie worked me over, then won me over.” 
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times