• Release year: 2025
• Director: Cédric Klapisch.
• Producers: Cédric Klapisch and Bruno Levy.
• Screenplay by: Cédric Klapisch and Santiago Amigorena.
• Cinematography by: Alexis Kavyrchine.
• Music by: Robin Coudert.

Shotgun Commentary: entertaining family tale with VERY French moments.

Review

Colours of Time (original title: La venue de l’avenir) is a story that weaves together drama, comedy, romance and coming-of-age narratives. Despite the great number of emotions and interconnected narratives, the story flows quite lightly. This makes it perfect for anyone in search of a light-hearted drama.

Time travelling

The film combines two main storylines in different timelines. In the present, four cousins get together as representatives of their family. Their goal is to put a price on an old family home and decide whether to sell it or not. In the past, their ancestor, Adèle (Suzanne Lindon), left the house to go to Paris and meet her mother. As you unravel her story, you will see how her decisions impact the four cousins’ lives hundreds of years later.

Careful editing makes it possible for both timelines to coexist in a visually satisfying manner. The transitions between one story and the other are creative and, at times, even fun. With Paris as the background, it is fascinating to see how one can travel in time while the architecture remains untouched. The riverbank stairs that Adèle climbs upon her arrival by boat from Normandy become those a runner in a neon outfit climbs down in a matter of milliseconds. Little more than the outfits and soundtrack make the time travel perfectly clear.

The beauty of the film does not end with talented editing. The cinematography is also key, as you might have deduced from the title. The use of colours is quite clearly well thought out. Before you even know what the film will be about, you can already see the stamp of impressionism in Adèle’s story. Every visual aspect of the feature is clearly deliberately chosen, leaving no space for thoughtless elements.

Oh, what fun…

As for the story itself, it is a harmonious composition of emotions and character development that keeps you hooked beginning to end. Still, there are a couple of moments in the feature that invite some reflection. The first and briefest is a hilarious transition in which someone knocks on the door in the past, and it is the cousins in the present who open it. This moment is funny because of its timing. Adèle is posing nude for the first time ever. She wants to keep it a secret, but when someone knocks on the door, the painter is so focused on his work that he tells the person on the other side to come in.

Now, superficially this is a fun gag, and nothing actually comes out of it in terms of the story. However, the more you think about it, the more terrible it becomes. Especially considering Adèle’s initial shock and horror when she finds out that her mother is a prostitute. What begins as a chuckle-worthy moment actually speaks volumes of the lack of regard for women’s bodies and choices. Adèle is put in a position she does not want to be in as a result of her friend’s complete indifference towards the terms of her consent. Using this as a gag works, sure, but it will also make you deeply uncomfortable the more you analyse it.

Gaslighting your way to love

The second seemingly simple aspect that is worth a double take is Seb’s storyline. Seb (Abraham Wapler) is one of the four cousins who get together to investigate the old family house. He is a content creator who is dating a gorgeous influencer but falls for a singer. In broad terms, there is nothing wrong or even notable about this story; only its framing is quite problematic. The story is supposed to be about this young man who is unfulfilled with his life and finds out who he wants to be thanks to what happens throughout the film.

The elephant in the room is that he does not really evolve at all. He changes girlfriends, and that is supposed to have changed his whole life. This undermines everything else that happens, reducing his whole personality and ability to evolve to who he is with. Furthermore, the movie plays with its audience’s prejudice in a very clever way. It positions you to dislike the influencer and like the singer by appealing to the most basic societal prejudices.

Perspective is everything

The influencer is introduced during the shooting of a video where she is promoting some clothes in a museum. She does not like the colour palette, and, because her clothes cannot be changed, she asks if they can change the colour of the painting. This is rage bait at its finest. A beautiful woman saying something that can easily be written off as ignorant and self-centred when in reality she is just being a professional looking for solutions. Similar moments take place throughout the film, framing her as the bad guy when it is Seb who is being dishonest, jealous, and possessive.

The opposite perspective is applied to the singer. She is portrayed as the perfect effortless beauty who respects the past while also wanting to create something new. She is described by Seb himself as his muse, and, like most muses, she does not actually get a voice at all further than her singing and praising him for how good his work is. *sigh*

All in all, Colours of Time is a wonderful light drama that makes for fantastic entertainment as long as you don’t look at it too closely. The more you examine it, the more you risk finding a great part of it quite uncomfortable for one reason or another. Then again, discomfort is also an experience worthwhile if you are in the mood for it.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Never trust a painter when they say they’ll respect your privacy.
• Stories of your past can help you understand your present.
• Travelling is always a good idea.

What’s your take? Have you watched Colours of Time? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message on my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀