It’s Cotillard canon, and one for the director’s top tier, without doubt.

This is exasperatingly nonsensical and humourless: it is full of grand gestures, gigantically self-important acting, big scenes (though often bafflingly truncated), big emotions and smirkingly knowing dialogue.

Brother and Sister seems more like a retread (and a retreat) than anything that’s come prior, marking a new step forward for the lauded director by taking a disappointing step back.

Desplechin might have done his worst feature to date with Brother and Sister. Unfortunately, after displaying some creativity with his work on his previous film, he follows it up with a total disaster.