Maman est chez le coiffeur

Summer 1966. It’s time to enjoy the summer holiday, total freedom, running free through the meadows and giggling with friends. But while she becomes increasingly aware of the dreams, worries and lies of people around her, Élise discovers that the sudden departure of her mother completely disrupts the family. In the meantime, her brother Coco waywardly seeks solace building a super racing car and her youngest brother Benoît throws himself into his own inner world. The father seems absolutely knocked out by the situation. Élise decides to take control of her adrift family, in an eloquent attempt to save them. With the assistance of flourishing, blossoming nature around her and the silent cheer offered to her by Monsieur Mouche, Élise is standing on the threshold of an incomparable summer.
Mommy Is at the Hairdresser’s is characterised by a wonderfully nostalgic tone in which the situations and the family members – especially the teenager Élise – are sketched humanely and filled with compassion, with a great feeling for scents, colours and all kinds of historic details. The contrast between the tensions and changes on the one hand and the sweltering summer holidays on the other is held in perfect balance by a subtle mise-en-scène, partly thanks to the fantastic acting on all sides and the excellent production design, with great feeling for detail. (EH)