It's beautifully done. Perfectly balanced. Always compassionate.

It's well-meaning and the naturalistic performances are persuasive. But there's a certain rheumatic stiffness to the writing, which treads rather heavily as it negotiates themes that would benefit from a lighter step.

A languorous look at family and modernity that only just manages to give each their due.

The house by the sea is the most skeptical and taciturn work of the director who always showed the greatest social optimism in contemporary French cinema. [Full Review in Spanish]