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Two of Us Movie Review

Two of Us is a 2020 French drama film directed by Filippo Meneghetti and starring Barbara Sukowa. It is such a moving, wonderful romance.

Pensioners Nina and Madeleine have hidden their deep and passionate love for many decades, but their bond is put to the test when they are suddenly unable to move freely between each other’s apartments. This is a story that has rarely been portrayed in movies before, so it holds great power as it’s also believable and especially relatable to the gay community.

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There are many strengths to this film, but the major one has to be its very melodrama-lacking, grounded approach to storytelling. Certainly the last couple of scenes were more heavy and melodramatic, but most of it was believable to me, especially all of the drama with the children of Madeleine.

Basically, they want to treat her while she is unwell, so when they find out about their mother having had a romance with her neighbor, they try to cut her off from helping her partner. I ultimately liked that development because there have been so many gay and lesbian couples that were married at one time, so having the kids realize that their parents’ marriage was a lie must be difficult while it is especially tough for the lesbian couple to suddenly get separated.

And this is where the movie shines. Yes, it may be somewhat specific to the LGBT community, but not really when you realize that any couple really can face times when they are separated and forced to be apart. The romance here is so strong that the emotion was definitely felt, and all of it led to that absolutely remarkable, beautiful ending.

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Two of Us is phenomenally acted with Barbara Sukowa being particularly memorable in such a terrific role. The characterization is solid as is the dialogue, but the movie’s emphasis on tender romance and sweet, slower moments made it a true charmer. The cinematography, editing and direction are uniformly strong and the film is consistently engaging despite it being slower in pace and less eventful.

Two of Us is such a beautiful romance film that is uniformly strong in pacing, direction, acting performances and dialogue, but it is especially deserving of praise for its very grounded in reality, melodrama-lacking approach to storytelling that made the movie more believable and elegant. The final scene is touching and the emotional engagement here is undeniable.

My Rating – 4.5