The Family on France 4: Mélanie Thierry faces the departure of a foster child

La Vraie Famille comes to France 4 with a question at the heart of the story: how do you love a child in your care, knowing they might leave? Mélanie Thierry plays Anna, a foster carer faced with the return of the biological father of the little boy she is raising.

Simon has lived with Anna, her husband and their two sons since he was 18 months old. At six, he could be reunited with his father, who wants to regain custody of him. For Anna, the prospect upends a relationship in which the child has always called her “Mom.”

Fabien Gorgeart drew on his own childhood: his mother was a foster carer. In the film’s press kit, he explains that he wanted to give the child a loving foster family and biological father. Félix Moati plays the father who wants to reconnect with his son, while Lyes Salem plays Anna’s husband. The conflict therefore pits several emotional bonds against one another, rather than treating one family as legitimate from the outset.

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