Lucien, a young boy who lives retired with his mother Cécile and his older brother in a village in the Ardennes, carries a heavy secret, he avoids contact as much as questions. However, he gets closer to Freddy, the father of Lies, his only friend, and spends his time in his modest sawmill. But when Lucien's grandmother dies and his father is granted release from prison to attend the funeral, everything changes.
The subject of the child killer has often been treated;but none of the previous films thoroughly focused on his family , the insults ,the threatens ,even the cruelty -they hang their dog - they endure, all the harassment they have to cope with from the populace ;One of the members of the family ,Lucien ,11, finds it hard to live in this menacing atmosphere. At school, he does not find support and comfort ,he's the killer's son...
Seeing his father in tears, handcuffed and protected from popular fury by an impressive police deployment upsets Lucien. Against the advice of those around him, Lucien wants to see his father again. .. His older brother disapproves of his decision ;actually there's a wall betweeen them :the only moment when the boys hug is when they discover their ill-fated pet ; of his father and of his crimes ,we know almost nothing : the boy may have a vision of this horror in a gripping nightmare scene -is it only a nightmare or did it actually happen ?-
The father desperately tries to relate to this only human being who seems to care for him ;but entering a place where you are searched as though you were entering a plane in an airport is not pleasant for a 11 -year-old kid ; and of course ,there's always a third person (a psychiatrist) who attends the meeting.
No easy way out, no facile redemption ,this movie is unforgiving , harsh ,desperate ;lucien 's sad face will haunt you long after watching this work.
