Les Boîtes

Jane Birkin wrote and directed this magical-realist memory piece, and the artistic freedom allows her to craft one of her most personal, touching performances. She plays a middle-aged woman settling into a new home by the sea. As she unpacks, she conjures memories of people from her past with whom she yearns for reconciliation: her father (Michel Piccoli), mother (Geraldine Chaplin), three daughters (real-life offspring Lou Doillon among them), and three ex-husbands. As a first-time director, Birkin displays an elegant, mature style, deftly handling the story's dreamlike tonal shifts. The result is a cathartic emotional odyssey rife with intriguing autobiographical allusions.