Is it possible to love not too little but too well? This is the question posed by Saverio Costanzo’s incisive and inquisitive script that follows the battle of wills as Jude (Driver) and Mina (Rohrwacher) try to raise their child.

Mina favours a natural, holistic approach, but her stubborn beliefs leave her child malnourished and ill. She and Driver are superb, giving controlled but moving performances where histrionics may have been more tempting.

Costanzo’s direction makes this the most chilling non-horror of the year and Nicola Piovani’s fantastic score glides between delicate beauty and eerie suspense.

The momentum of the character arcs drags at one or two key moments, but this is a remarkably even-handed and tense portrayal of a family caught between love and logic.

RATING: 4/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Adam Driver, Alba Rohrwacher, Roberta Maxwell

DIRECTOR: Saverio Costanzo

WRITER: Saverio Costanzo and Marco Franzoso (novel)

SYNOPSIS: The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they experience an unexpected pregnancy and things only get worse from there…