Retrospekt

We first meet Mette (Circé Lethem) during a holiday in Belgium where, despite being pregnant, she attempts to intercede in a violent dispute in a clothing-store fitting room. The film then jumps ahead to find Mette and her husband, Simon (Martijn van der Veen), disagreeing over who should take time off to care for their newborn second child. Mette works at a domestic violence support centre, a job she’s passionate about, and she resents the presumption that Simon’s professional life should take priority over hers. Just as this conflict is taking shape, the film jumps ahead still further. Some catastrophe has struck, leaving Mette’s mind and body in disarray and her memories asunder. Sometime after her second birth, Mette invited Lee (Lien Wildemeersch), one of her clients, to live in her home. Lee is a victim of abuse. Can she be trusted? (Toronto International Film Festival)