Madeleine Collins

Judith leads a life split between two countries, balancing a quiet family in France with a separate household in Switzerland. With Abdel she is raising a young daughter; with Melvil she has two older sons. The delicate arrangement, built on small lies and half truths, begins to wobble as routines collide and distance grows. Travel and secrecy become daily texture, and the pressure to keep two worlds from colliding intensifies. As the cracks widen, Judith keeps moving in a bid to hold everything together while the truth presses closer. The choice she makes will redefine her sense of love, duty, and self.

Directed by Antoine Barraud from an original screenplay co written with Héléna Klotz, Madeleine Collins arrived in 2021 as a taut European drama about loyalty and desire. The film, produced with a budget of 3.8 million dollars, stars Virginie Efira Quim Gutiérrez Bruno Salomone and Loïse Benguerel, and has a worldwide gross of 1,549,405 dollars.

Critics noted Efira's restrained performance and the film's taut mood, favoring quiet moral inquiry over melodrama. The story tests fidelity, motherhood, and personal freedom when two lives pull in opposite directions. The cross-border setting between Switzerland and France sharpens the moral ambiguity while keeping the drama intimate rather than flashy. The film invites viewers to reflect on the cost of secrets and the ways choices about love shape identity.

This title contributes to conversations about modern relationships and the costs of secrecy in contemporary Europe. Its measured approach to desire and family duty in a cross-border life offers a vivid portrait of how couples navigate loyalty, trust, and the impact on children. While it did not become a blockbuster, Madeleine Collins sparked discussions about how two lives held in balance can collapse and what that means for those who depend on them.