How Single Motherhood Became Cinema's New Battleground

"Early in Jasmin Gordon's Swiss film The Courageous, single mother Jule (Ophélia Kolb) drives her three young children through stunning countryside to a nondescript commercial zone. In an empty cafe manned by an older woman, Jule buys a single drink for her brood then leaves for what she promises will be a quick errand. As the clock ticks, the cafe owner becomes increasingly suspicious, and the children are forced to assess their options before making the split-second decision to run."

"Blending elements of social realism and documentary with the propulsive pace of a thriller, The Courageous is one of several recent films depicting single motherhood as an adrenaline-fuelled high-wire act, where the stakes are sky high, empathy is in short supply and there is zero margin for error. Eric Gravel's 2021 film Full Time, starring Kolb's Call My Agent! co-star Laure Calamy, was a similarly adrenalised portrait of single motherhood."

""It's an extreme portrait of a woman in poverty with three children, trying to have this facade of perfection," "I really wanted to go into that extreme and to create a film that, also, in terms of the form, is as tense as her interior life." In a world where little empathy is extended to Jule, through the film, the audience is forced to imagine what it is to struggle - against the odds, and against time."

Single mother Jule navigates poverty and social scrutiny while caring for three young children, leading to nerve-shredding, split-second survival choices. The film uses tense, propulsive pacing and blends social realism with documentary elements to mirror Jule's interior anxiety. Scenes emphasize the lack of empathy and zero margin for error that define her daily life. The narrative situates Jule's struggles within a society known for wealth and order, highlighting the contrast between public perception and private hardship. Similar recent films depict single motherhood as an adrenaline-fuelled high-wire act with sky-high stakes and relentless pressure.

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