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Bright Days Ahead Photos

View All Photos (21)

Movie Info

A married dentist (Fanny Ardant) who has been forced into early retirement has an affair with a much-younger computer instructor (Laurent Lafitte).

Genre:

comedy, drama, romance
Original Language:

French (France)
Director:

Marion Vernoux
Producer:

François Kraus
Writer:

Marion Vernoux, Fanny Chesnel, Fanny Chesnel, Marion Vernoux
Release Date (Theaters):

Apr 25, 2014 limited
Release Date (Streaming):

Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA):

$9.1K
Runtime:

1h 33m
Production Co:

Direct Cinéma, Centre national de la Cinématographie, Canal+, Les Films du Kiosque, Uni Etoile 9 Développement, Pictanova, Région Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Orange Cinéma Séries, Angoa-Agicoa, Direct 8, Soficinéma 7 Développement, Apidev 2, Procirep, Hoche Artois Images, 27.11 Production, La Banque Postale Image 6

Cast & Crew

Fanny Ardant
Caroline

Laurent Lafitte
Julien

Patrick Chesnais
Philippe

Jean-François Stévenin
Roger

Fanny Cottençon
Chantal

Catherine Lachens
Sylviane

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Bright Days Ahead

All Critics (24) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (3)

This engaging French comedy has Fanny Ardant in Mrs Robinson mode as an improbably glamorous retired dentist who has an affair with a younger man.

June 20, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Geoffrey Macnab
Independent (UK)
To the film's credit, no one finds the age gap that scandalous, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter. These are people at very different places in life.

June 19, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Leslie Felperin
Guardian
Don't hold your breath, or your heart: it's not exactly Brief Encounter. But Ardant has the moves. It's the younger cast members who must struggle to keep up.

June 19, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
Ardant gives a performance you just want to bask in, glowing with desire and desirability while avoiding cougarish mother-figure clichs.

June 19, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Robbie Collin
Daily Telegraph (UK)
We've seen variations on the character before. But Fanny Ardant's performance as the straitlaced wife ... is insightful and note-perfect.

June 17, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Fitfully amusing and poignant in its insights into ageing, this cross-generational fling saga lacks the character and depth to say anything genuinely significant.

June 16, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
I think Bright Days Ahead will resonate with people who are nearing or in retirement, but people of all ages can appreciate it as a good film with a good story and strong acting.

March 4, 2021 | Full Review…

Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
Bright Days Ahead is a likable piece offering reassurance that life begins, rather than ends, at sixty.

March 26, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Edward Frost
CineVue
Bright Days Ahead is a fitting title for a story about one woman's transition at a turning point of her life where time is no longer her enemy, but her anchor.

June 20, 2014 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Jon Lyus
HeyUGuys
A fine performance from Fanny Ardant elevates Marion Vernoux's intriguing if rarely riveting study of late-life passion.

June 20, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

David Parkinson
Radio Times
Bright Days is fairly lightweight stuff but Ardant's performance lends it conviction and poignancy.

June 19, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Allan Hunter
Daily Express (UK)
A lightweight but sincere glimpse at starting life when many are ending it.

June 19, 2014 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…

Ron Wilkinson
It's Just Movies