''Laughter'' (french: Le Rire) is a Canadian drama film, directed by

Martin Laroche Martin Laroche, born William Henry Silvester, (15 September 1814 – 10 November 1886) was an early English professional photographer who successfully challenged William Fox Talbot's patent on the calotype and effected a liberalisation in profess ...

and released in 2020. The film stars

Léane Labrèche-Dor Léane Labrèche-Dor (born July 6, 1988) is a Canadian actress. She is most noted for her performance in the film ''Laughter (2020 film), Laughter (Le Rire)'', for which she received a Prix Iris nomination for Prix Iris for Best Actress, Best Actr ...

as Valérie, a woman who was the sole survivor of a massacre in her hometown several years earlier in the midst of a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

; although she has successfully rebuilt her life with a job in a

long-term care Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods. Long-term care is focused on individualized and ...

home and a new romantic relationship with Gabriel (

Alexandre Landry Alexandre Landry (born December 20, 1985) is a Canadian film, television and stage actor. He is best known for his role in the 2013 film '' Gabrielle'', for which he garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor at the 2nd ...

), she still struggles with

survivor's guilt Survivor guilt (or survivor's guilt; also called survivor syndrome or survivor's syndrome and survivor disorder or survivor's disorder) is a mental condition that occurs when a person believes they have done something wrong by surviving a traumati ...

until the arrival of Jeanne (

Micheline Lanctôt Micheline Lanctôt (born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian actress, film director, screenwriter, and musician. Biography Lanctôt was born in Frelighsburg, Quebec. Her post-secondary education was in music, fine arts, and theatre at École de musique ...

), a new patient at the home, gives her a new perspective on life.André Duchesne
"Le rire : de quoi pleurer"
'' La Presse'', January 31, 2020. The film's cast also includes

Sylvie Drapeau Sylvie Drapeau (born 1962) is a Canadian actress and writer from Baie-Comeau, Quebec.Marie-France Bornais"«La terre» de Sylvie Drapeau: se tourner vers la lumière" ''Le Journal de Québec'', May 4, 2019. As an actress, she is most noted for he ...

Christine Beaulieu Christine Beaulieu is a Canadian actress and playwright from Quebec. She received a Canadian Screen Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards, and a Prix Iris nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 18 ...

, Catherine Proulx-Lemay, Jean-Sébastien Courchesne,

Évelyne Rompré Évelyne Rompré (born March 4, 1975) is a Canadian actress from Quebec. She is most noted for her performance in the 2010 film '' Twice a Woman (Deux fois une femme)'', for which she received a Jutra Award nomination for Best Actress at the 13th ...

and Évelyne de la Chenelière. The film premiered in theatres on January 31, 2020. On April 7, with virtually all film distribution in Canada suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

, the film was made available for free

internet streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

as a special one-day promotion by its distributor, Maison 4:3.

Critical response

For ''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'', Jérôme Delgado praised Labrèche-Dor's performance, but wrote that the film overall was riddled with plot holes, most notably the fact that the film's physical and social setting showed virtually no traces of actually having been torn apart by war.Jérôme Delgado
"«Le rire»: faut-il (en) rire?"
''

'', February 1, 2020. André Duchesne offered a similar assessment for '' La Presse'', criticizing the lack of any significant information in the film about an event that would have been far more traumatic to society than was evident in the screenplay. He also noted that a key scene in the film, a soliloquy by the long-term care centre's human resources director, was so similar to a scene in

Denys Arcand Georges-Henri Denys Arcand (; born June 25, 1941) is a French Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. His film ''The Barbarian Invasions'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2004. His films have also been nominated three f ...

's 2003 film ''

The Barbarian Invasions ''The Barbarian Invasions'' (french: Les Invasions barbares) is a 2003 Canadian-French sex comedy-drama film written and directed by Denys Arcand and starring Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau and Marie-Josée Croze. The film is a sequel to Arca ...

(Les Invasions barbares)'' that he hoped, but did not know for sure, that the scene was intended as a deliberate

homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...

Accolades

The film received two

Prix Iris The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.22nd Quebec Cinema Awards The 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards were presented on 10 June 2020, to recognize talent and achievement in the cinema of Quebec. The planned 7 June ceremony was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but nominees were announced 23 April. Abenaki docume ...

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, laughter_2020 2020 films 2020 drama films Canadian drama films 2020s French-language films Films set in Quebec Films shot in Quebec Films directed by Martin Laroche French-language Canadian films 2020s Canadian films Films scored by Robert Marcel Lepage