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Poster for Private Property

Private Property

2006 · 1h 35m · Unrated Drama
Directed by Joachim Lafosse

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Overview

Since Luc granted a divorce to Pascale ten years ago, he paid generous alimony and left a fine country house as long as their twin sons remain at home. Pascale always acted as if she was the provider and head of the household, even now the inseparable brothers are twenty. But she started a secret affair with Flemish neighbor, cook Jan, whose ambition is to start a restaurant and B&B with her. As the boys learn she wants to cancel her job and sell the house for the project, college-man Thierry, who has a steady girl Anne, naturally refuses to let her spend dad's money meant for them. Gentler François, content to remain a handyman, would consider letting her and maybe working in the 'family business'. This causes trouble, even after Pascale moves out to Gerda's indefinitely, leading to tragedy.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
76%
Tomatometer
Rotten

The effect of all this acting out is less erotic than helplessly childish.

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly
Fresh

An impeccably acted character drama revolving around a mother and her teenage twin sons, Private Property shows how strong and how terrifying the bonds within families can be.

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Fresh

It wouldn't be accurate to call Private Property a thriller, but it has a slow-burning intensity that's oddly suspenseful, and it shifts gears effectively once the tense family dynamic suddenly changes.

Scott Tobias, AV Club
Fresh

What draws us into "Private Property" is how so many things happen under the surface, never commented upon. At any given moment, we cannot say for sure what the characters fully feel, since they often act at right angles to their emotions.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh

[Director] Lafosse's frustrating, yet beautifully elegiac coda emphasizes the point that his production and storytelling style have been making throughout: Private Property is about processes, not conclusions.

Tasha Robinson, Chicago Tribune

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