“The Courageous” - TIFF24 Film Review
This review was originally posted on Film Obsessive.
Motherhood is a thorny topic. It’s only been in recent years that people have started to have honest conversations about the effect pregnancy can have on mental, physical, and emotional health. There isn’t one correct way to parent a child, and each set of circumstances requires something different. More often than not, society expects mothers to fit into a very specific box. Director Jasmin Gordon’s feature film debut, The Courageous, making its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, gives the spotlight to a type of motherhood that isn’t often depicted with kindness. Borrowing from the name, the film is courageous in its honesty that’s created by an unflinching verité lens.
courtesy of TIFF
Jule (Ophelia Kolb) is the sort of gregarious mother who can turn a rainy day into something extremely memorable. She’s mom to three children: the oldest Claire (Jasmine Kalisz Saurer), middle Loïc (Paul Besnier), and youngest Sami (Arthur Devaux). They live in a beautiful town in the Alps in the Valais region of Switzerland. As much as the children love their mother, they know that their lives are far from stable. She’ll leave them at a diner for hours on end while she finds a way to scrounge up some money to keep them afloat. The Courageous paints a portrait of this small, loving family and the lengths they’ll go to as they try to stay together.
courtesy of TIFF
Throughout the film, Jule tells herself and the children that she has not, nor will she ever, abandon them. Based on the dictionary definition, Jule is correct because the word implies giving up. Yes, Jule has left her kids alone at home or at a restaurant, but she always has plans to return. Even in her most desperate moments, when it would be so much easier if she went by herself, Jule refuses to give up the fight to make a stable home for her kids. By other people’s definitions, Jule abandons her kids many times over the course of the film. What makes The Courageous such a compelling movie is that it forces the audience to question their ideas of parenthood. It’s one thing to be the “perfect parent” when all needs are taken care of, but it’s another when fighting tooth and nail for spare change.
The setting of The Courageous is one of affluence, but Jule struggles to make ends meet. Those with money see someone like Jule and ask why she can’t just use the social welfare resources. Yet when Jule takes this route, she’s faced with more and more loopholes that make accessing those resources nearly impossible. Toward the end, deep in frustration, Jule says, “You know, even if you cheat, you can’t win.” This is the thesis of The Courageous, boiled down to a stark gut-punch of a statement. The film doesn’t make a big deal of Jule muttering these words, but it’s a direct blow to those watching. She’s tried to go about it the legal way and the illegal way, but still it’s not enough.
courtesy of TIFF
In light of her mother’s frequent disappearances, Claire has become a stand-in mother figure to her younger brothers. She’s only ten years old, but she’s forced to make decisions that impact the livelihood of her brothers and her mother. They all have a series of rehearsed lies they tell their teachers at school to quell any suspicion. The Courageous spends the bulk of its time with the children and doesn’t reveal what Jule is doing when she’s alone until about the one-hour mark. The audience is as in the dark as the children, who are just killing time until their mother comes home. As wise beyond her years as Claire is, the viewer can see that she’s desperate to be a kid. When all the siblings fall asleep on the couch waiting for Jule, Claire pretends she’s sleeping too so her mom can tuck her into bed. It’s a moment that makes the viewer’s heart ache.
“Those who are courageous are free.” Jule utters this phrase often. The Courageous is an interesting title for the film, because if Jule’s actions were presented out of context to someone, they likely would call her selfish. Yet, as the film unfolds, perceptions of motherhood and morality are bent, or maybe even broken. Playing more festivals after TIFF24, The Courageous is a beautifully intimate film that creates a space for audiences to challenge themselves about how they view parenthood.
Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Letterboxd, and YouTube.