Leaving (the French title of this 2024 film is Partier) stars Kristin Scott Thomas as a woman wed to a successful Yvan Attal who feels the bonds holding her marriage and her life starting to unwind. In some manner this occasional melodramatic film reminds of another primarily UK based actress starring, and speaking quite convincingly, in a foreign film about a woman embarking on an affair of the heart: Tilda Swinton in the Italian production I Am Love.

KST carries the movie to the extent that the reason you want to continue watching Leaving is the compelling motivation erupting from Thomas’ Suzanne. On one side Attal her professional husband want to grudge fuck her for her transgressions while her new lover, a Spanish illegal worker who did some construction work for her husband, offer the promise of a new world. Playing the Catalan Ivan, Sergi Lopez provides the expected sullen mood swings. Lopez will be familiar to audiences from Pan’s Labyrinth while Attal is an actor you’ve seen in countless films playing a French character (Munich, Rush Hour 3) along with four films he’s written and directed.

The narrative consists of various states of undress. Few actresses can express her sexuality like Thomas especially at her age (maybe Helen Mirren comes to mind). Leaving offers traditional plot variations, but like all requited love, doesn’t wallow in happiness. Leaving opens exclusively this weekend at the River Oaks 3 Theater.

- Michael Bergeron