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Poster for Season's Beatings

Season's Beatings

'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

1999 · 1h 46m · N/A Comedy, Drama
Directed by Danièle Thompson

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Overview

Christmas, family, and infidelity. Yvette's husband has died, and her grown daughters join her at the grave: Sonia, wealthy, bourgeois, and generous; Louba, living with their dad Stanislas, singing at a Russian restaurant, penniless, the mistress for the past 12 years of a man who will never leave his wife; Milla, the youngest, acerbic, lonesome. Christmas was when they learned their parents were divorcing 25 years ago. Over the next few days, yuletide depression, Louba's pregnancy, Sonia's crumbling marriage, Stanislas's overtures to Yvette, and Milla's attraction to the man who's her father's rent-free lodger lead each one to re-examine self, family, and hopes. Is renewal possible?

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
71%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Elegantly folds together multiple storylines ... into a confection that is ultimately better because of its bitterness.

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Fresh

Sparklingly acted by a fine ensemble cast.

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
Fresh

The tone is light, the Michel Legrand music is high in calories and the result is a very handsome, well-appointed soap opera.

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Rotten

There's little originality.

Charles Ealy, Dallas Morning News
Fresh

Thompson keeps her focus (and ours) on the actors, most of whom have never been as luminous as they are here.

Amy Taubin, Village Voice

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