Custody

Custody is a 2017 French drama film directed by Xavier Legrand and starring Léa Drucker and Denis Ménochet. It was screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival where it won the Silver Lion. At the 44th César Awards, Custody won the awards for Best Film, Best Actress (Drucker), and Best Original Screenplay. Plot Miriam Besson and Antoine Besson are a recently divorced couple. They have a daughter close to the age of eighteen, Joséphine, and an eleven-year-old son, Julien. Miriam wants to protect her son and keep him away from his father, whom she accuses of being violent. Therefore, during the custody court hearing, she asks for sole custody of the child, providing a letter from Julien saying that he does not want to see his father. Despite Miriam's pleas, the judge grants shared custody and orders the child to spend alternate weekends with his father. Julien is frightened of his father and wants to protect his mother from the physical and psychological violence inflicted by Antoine. Antoine wants to continue to exercise his power over Miriam and Julien with pressure and threats to the child. This attitude, and his aggressive outbursts, creates tension with his own parents who tell Antoine to leave their home, where he had been staying. Antoine then intimidates Julien into showing him where the family has moved to.