Throughout Love Me Tender, French director Anna Cazenave Cambet’s new film about a mother’s fight for custody of her child, the audience is reminded of the body at the centre of the story – that of Clémence Delcourt (Vicky Krieps). The camera is almost cloyingly close, presenting her body in lingering shots that offer opportunities for the audience to connect with her real, visceral experience.

It is this body that we follow through the story. From the opening shot of Clémence in the pool to the ending on a bike, hers is a body constantly in motion, with a kind of restless energy. It is no wonder that she feels the need to keep moving: Clémence separates from her husband, and leaves him and her son after realising she is attracted to women.

Clémence tells her ex-husband she has started dating women, and he responds that her son no longer wants to see her. The film follows Clémence’s battle for access to her son and the heartbreak it causes. It’s an adaptation of the autofictional novel, Love Me Tender (2020) by Constance Debré.

At the heart of this film is a tension........

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