It all begins with the ringing of Sandra's doorbell before daybreak. It's her pregnant neighbor from across the hall who has to rush to the hospital with her partner Alex. Can Sandra watch their five-year-old son Elliott for a few hours? For Sandra, a fiercely independent woman in her fifties, a child's company is more a burden than a blessing, but how can she refuse? Against all odds, a stimulating and endearing conversation soon takes place between the woman and the child as they anxiously wait to hear back from his parents. This marks the beginning of an unexpected friendship that swiftly develops when Elliott's mother tragically dies while giving birth to his little sister.

Sandra subsequently sees her world turned upside down as she unwillingly becomes more and more involved in the daily life of her next-door neighbor and his two children, and gradually becomes attached to this adopted family.

In The Ties that Bind Us, director Carine Tardieu (The Dandelions - SFFF 2013) brilliantly explores with much kindness what makes a family. The film is led by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (The Divide - SFFF 2022, Slack Bay - SFFF 2017), who portrays Sandra with precision and extra sensitivity, and Pio Marmaï (Daaaaaali! & Yannick - SFFF 2024; The Divide), as the newly widowed and overwhelmed Alex.

Our 2025 "Coup de Coeur," The Ties that Bind Us is the perfect film to close our 24th edition, leaving you wanting more French films as touching, uplifting, and precious as this one next year!