Time to Leave illustrates François Ozon’s prodigious talent - and true to his reputation, he shows us yet another genre. The film’s pared-down style is similar to his Under the Sand, and is a meditation on what it means to find out you only have a short time left to live.
30-year-old photographer Romain (Melvil Poupaud) suddenly learns he has only a few months left to live. He first reacts with fury which he vents on his parents (Marie Riviere and Daniel Duval), his sister (Louise-Anne Hippeau) and later his boyfriend (Christian Sengewald), without divulging to them the reason for his behaviour. Grandmother Laura (Jeanne Moreau in a magnetic cameo) is the first to hear his confession and he tells her rather insensitively 'because you’re like me, you’ll be dying soon'.
Melvil Poupaud carries the film beautifully and gives a performance that is affecting yet without self pity, morphing from a fit, athletic young man to an emaciated invalid.
