A FEW WORDS OF LOVE (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson
Writer/director Rudi Rosenberg’s A Few Words of Love/Quelques Mots d’Amour is a heartbreaking film that delivers as many laugh out loud moments as the best comedies. Rosenberg’s witty script manages a high wire act of a devastating family issue balanced throughout by humorous repartee, much of that involving seven-year-old and then fourteen-year-old Abigaëlle, called Abi (Ella Bedoucha at seven, Nour Salam at fourteen). The serious side of the story centers on Abi’s obsession with finding and talking with her one hundred percent absent father, a man who, in his own words, “never wanted a kid.” But Abi desperately wants a father. Nevertheless, his complete indifference to appeals leaves caring but never unrealistic mother Erika (Hafsia Herzi) as the sole support of Abi and her disruptive younger brother Yoni (Aïdan Djouadi at five, Mateo Danila at 12). Abi feels so ashamed of Yoni that none of the other students in his class know she’s his sister, an interesting counterpart to Abi’s resentment over her father’s denial of a relationship.
At Abi’s repeated, insufferable insistence, Erika will track down and further aid Abi’s attempts to find father David (Jacques Sebban). In Sarcelles, France, 1995 this isn’t easy given the limited social media existence. In one drive home, Abi will spy and beg Erika to let her rescue an abandoned dog. As usual accommodating Abi’s pleas, the Maki Shepherd that Abi names Vanille will become an emotional support dog and all but steal the show on several occasions. Through a series of crises for Erika, Abi, Yoni, and Abi’s faithful friend Clarisse, the family’s challenges increase. For his part, because of being bullied, Yoni avoids school writing a series of transparently preposterous absentee excuses. School consultations add comic scenes, increasing Erika’s readiness for a well-earned meltdown. But Abi drives the action in some pleasingly unexpected ways. This believable and endearing family reinforces the absolute need for love in all its manifestations. In its poignant but never overly sentimental way, Quelques Mots d’Amour also highlights the critical importance of exactly that, a few words of love. In Cannes Un Certain Regard section, A Few Words of Love/Quelques Mots d’Amour is in French with English subtitles.
