Cinemadefrance.com

 

5 x 2 is a haunting and realistic evocation of the evanescence of love and how adult relationships evolve over time. Returning to a more intimate scale following his international smash, Swimming Pool, Francois Ozon’s chamber drama is an anatomy of a failed marriage told in reverse chronology, starting with the finalization of the couple’s divorce and concluding, literally, as they walk off into the sunset for their first encounter. Subverting the conventions of cinema romance along with audience expectations of happy endings, Ozon focuses on five key chapters in these two people’s lives — including the first blush of sexual attraction, the wedding night, and the birth of their first child — that reveal the inextricable emotional ties between them, while at the same time exposing the inevitable seeds of discord.