In London they meet as they find that their children knew one another and were probably dating. This comes as a shock to both parents who realize they actually don't know much about their kids. He left Africa for France when his son was a child and she only had a telephone relationship with her daughter. Each one loses their kid twice, essentially.
There is a lovely parallel structure here as both parents have complimentary backgrounds, even though they're from very different places. As she lives on Guernsey, she's something between English and French. She raised her daughter mostly alone after her husband was killed in the Falklands. He is clearly African, but has lived in France for a few decades and is not totally either one. He didn't raise his son at all and has no idea what kind of man he became. There's also a lovely visual pairing of the two, where she is short and chubby and he's extremely tall, skinny and has fantastic dreadlocks. They couldn't be a more unusual pair.
Sadly, as nice and sweet as the film is, it's very simple and straightforward, with the only real excitement coming from a moment when they've lost all hope of finding their kids alive and then they regain hope suddenly. This is a very manipulative film that toys with emotions in a rather banal way. Blethyn is actually very good, but plays a pretty terrible woman who's shrill and annoying. The worst kind of loving mother possible. Koutaté is fantastic. Quite and contemplative, knowing full well the whole time that he's sorta out of place everywhere.
Stars: 2.5 of 4
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