At a Glance

Arnaud Desplechin's blackly comic A CHRISTMAS TALE centres around a Vuillard family get-together in which estranged son Henri (Mathieu Amalric) returns. His mother, Junon (Catherine Deneuve), has cancer, and Henri may be the bone marrow donor match that could save her life. Oldest daughter Elizabeth (Anne Consigny) is equally unhappy to see her brother; he has been an emotional and financial drain on the family, and she had him legally banished from the family six years ago. But with his return, old wounds are freshly opened as the entire brood gathers together for what could be their last holiday.