The Ties That Bind Us

LIFF 2024 opens with Carine Tardieu's captivating and compassionate drama about the unexpected new bonds that can bloom in unsettling times.

The Ties That Bind Us from French writer/director Carine Tardieu is a captivating and compassionate drama about what brings people together in unsettling times and the new kinds of ties that can bloom unexpectedly. When the reluctant Sandra (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), a fifty something feminist bookshop owner, is suddenly charged with looking after her neighbours’ five-year-old son when his mother’s waters break, she has no idea how their lives will change when tragedy strikes. With a superb ensemble cast of natural performers led by Tedeschi and Pio Marmaï, The Ties That Bind Us has an irresistible, lived in feel that is universally relatable.

“Carine Tardieu crafts a delicate, humanist film about the unpredictable emotional ties we randomly forge through dramas, loving encounters and the merry-go-round of life.”  – Fabien Lemercier, Cineuropa