The superb French drama "Other People's Children" opens on the Eiffel Tower at night — a timeless romantic image that floods you with warmth and maybe induces a chuckle. It's a cliche, oui, but a wittily, knowingly deployed one. The tower's famous beacon shimmers across the famous city that's home to our radiantly beautiful 40-year-old heroine, Rachel (Virginie Efira), who makes her way through a busy, fulfilling life that plays, at first, like dreamiest fantasy. With deft, flowing camerawork and a burst of Vivaldi, the opening sequence finds Rachel teaching high-school students and chattering with colleagues, whisks her off on a quick car ride with a friendly ex, deposits her at an evening guitar class and ends with a drink and a tender smooch under the stars.
The passionate lovemaking that follows marks both a culmination and a beginning. Rachel's lover is Ali (Roschdy Zem), a divorced industrial designer with a 4-year-old daughter, Leila (Callie Ferreira-Goncalves), whom he's raising jointly with her mother, Alice (Chiara Mastroianni). It'll be some time before Rachel meets Leila, a moment she eagerly anticipates but allows Ali to arrange only when he's ready. Rachel is considerate and attentive to Ali's needs, slotting herself in and out of his life at his convenience. That remains the case when Rachel starts spending more and more time with Leila, looking after the child when Ali's away, picking her up at judo lessons and forging a bond as intense as it is ultimately fragile.
Unlike a lot of movie moppets, Leila is neither protagonist nor prop. As played by Ferreira-Goncalves, she's a recognizably real kid, meaning she's adorable, yes, and also shy, irritable, sweet, wary and unruly, with a love of sweets, a fondness for hugs and a tendency toward motion sickness. We see her only when Rachel sees her — a choice that underscores the tricky, conditional nature of a relationship that resists tidy labels.
