My Donkey, My Lover & I

My Donkey, My Lover & I (Antoinette dans les Cévennes, 2020) is a French comedy by Caroline Vignal — watch it online on iFILM. Laure Calamy took the César for Best Actress for this performance, and it's immediately clear why.

Antoinette is a primary school teacher. Her secret lover canceled their weekend — his wife organized a surprise hiking trip through the Cévennes. Antoinette's response: follow them. On foot, through the mountains, with a donkey named Patrick assigned to carry her gear. Patrick is steady, patient, and more dignified than anyone else in the film.

The farce premise keeps its promise in the first act. Then the trail takes over. By the time Antoinette comes down from those mountains she's not the same person who went up — and neither is the film's genre. Watch My Donkey, My Lover & I online on iFILM.