In the Courtyard

Gustave Kerven plays Antoine, a depressed former musician who takes a job as a janitor for an apartment block, forming an unlikely bond with an equally troubled resident Mathilde (Catherine Deneuve). A curious and occasionally insightful take on mental illness, the film portrays the loneliness and isolation of depression through two very different perspectives. The two leads make a surprisingly appealing duo, quietly recognising familiar pain in an otherwise unfamiliar face. Maybe most powerful is Deneuve, adeptly putting across the fearful nature of her character's growing instability. A shame, then, that the tone should jump around all over the place, with the quirky comedy surrounding Antoine's eccentricities slowly going to a very dark place. In The Courtyard is ultimately a mixed bag, with fine performances let down by an absence of any solid or surprising conclusion, leaving the film at times feeling as despondent as the characters it portrays.