Review: ‘Come What May,’ an Ode to French Villagers Displaced by War

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Come What May
Directed by Christian Carion
Drama, War
1h 54m
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The French film director Christian Carion, whose Oscar-nominated audience pleaser, “Joyeux Noël,” depicted a heartwarming temporary détente between World War I combatants, opens his latest film with a few words of historical context. He follows those with a dedication to his mother, who was among many citizens in northern France who were displaced by the German invasion of May 1940. “Come What May” grafts a suspense narrative involving multinational characters to a story of genial rural folk compelled to flee their homes before they’re overrun by bloodthirsty trespassers.

Mr. Carion has lined up an impressive and committed cast. The haunted-looking August Diehl plays a German anti-Nazi activist who finds short-lived sanctuary in France with his young son. Olivier Gourmet is a wise and kindly village mayor, and Mathilde Seigner is his warm but no-nonsense wife. Alice Isaaz is a sweet, sensitive schoolteacher. The Welsh actor Matthew Rhys plays a Scottish Army officer who is forced to take a considerable detour on the way to Dunkirk.

The packed-with-incident screenplay, by Mr. Carion and Laure Irrmann, includes several suspenseful scenes that Mr. Carion pulls off effectively with his direction. The depredations of the Nazis are depicted in a way that will make viewers want to declare war on Germany anew. But “Come What May” is also too pretty of a movie. It is often sentimental and, worse, schematic.

An early scene set in a cemetery is sufficiently weighted that, later, when a different graveyard turns up, what takes place there is not so much moving as predictable. For all the tragedy depicted, “Come What May” is war movie as comfort food, and the familiar score by Ennio Morricone is not exempted from that judgment.


“Come What May” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for violence and adult themes.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section C, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Review: ‘Come What May,’ an Ode to French Villagers Displaced by War. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe