Sexual Chronicles of a French Family (2012)

There's a lot of humour and heart here when people are talking to each other. Unfortunately, that's not often. Instead, we're treated to many boring sex scenes. It's still worth watching for the third of it that isn't porn.

**Authentic everyday freedom**

We must not forget, above all, that “Chroniques sexuelles d'une famille d'aujourd'hui” is a true visual poem, a delightful ode to the concept of freedom in general, and to French autonomy in particular. It is a work that celebrates life in its most instinctive aspect and is, at the same time, an example of a narrative of civilization. Even in its most explicit version, the film is an essential recommendation for those seeking cinema that combines thematic and visual audacity with genuine tenderness for its characters. It is a refreshing and profoundly humanist piece that manages to strip sex of its recurrently tragic and shameful burden, returning it to the realm of everyday life and affection.

The Larivière family's life is momentarily disrupted when Romain, the youngest son, is caught in math class secretly masturbating to record himself on video, as part of a kind of game or challenge among his classmates. After calling her mother for a consultation, and far from the event becoming a dark and shameful drama as the director intends, the situation serves as a narrative catalyst for each family member to explore and confront their own desires, sexual curiosities, and taboos. Through a quasi-episodic structure, the film portrays, with enviable naturalness, various erotic encounters and awakenings, normalizing sexuality as an integral element of communication and human growth within the family unit.