Love Affair(s) (2020) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film unfolds across three main locations: a quiet rural countryside retreat where Daphné stays during her vacation, the bustling streets of Paris where François works and Louise uncovers the affair, and Japan where Victoire lives before returning near her mother. The story shifts between a countryside house and a shared Parisian apartment.

• settings
• locations
• countryside
• paris
• japan

Love Affair(s) is set in contemporary modern times. The narrative unfolds over several weeks and months, beginning with a four-day rural retreat that transitions into weeks in Paris, culminating in a Christmas-season finale where characters confront issues of love and fidelity.

• time period
• modern day
• contemporary

The film explores three interconnected themes: Love as the driving force pulling characters in different directions; Choices where characters weigh loyalty against desire, with small decisions rippling into lasting consequences; and Memory where past relationships haunt the present, influencing current trust and longing.

• themes
• love
• choices
• memory
• relationships

Daphné's three-month pregnancy serves as a catalyst that forces difficult decisions about love and family. Her situation creates tension between her desire for stability and new romantic possibilities, complicating her future as she navigates her relationship with François and Maxime.

• pregnancy
• daphné
• family
• future

Maxime is François' cousin and an aspiring novelist living in a Paris apartment with Sandra and Gaspard. During the countryside retreat, he grows close to Daphné while waiting for François to return, forming new connections that complicate the existing love polygon.

• maxime
• character
• aspiring novelist
• french cousin

Louise is François's ex-wife who discovers his affair with Daphné, triggering significant tension and manipulation within the group. She embodies how previous relationships continue to impact new ones, and her awareness of past and present infidelities complicates the emotional landscape of both Paris and the countryside.

• louise
• ex-wife
• francois
• conflict

Victoire is Maxime's former flame who was married and living in Japan before separating and returning to stay near her mother while pregnant. Her unresolved history with Maxime adds a layer of lingering longing that resurfaces throughout the narrative, demonstrating how past relationships influence present emotions.

• victoire
• japan
• maxime
• past love

Sandra is Maxime's childhood sweetheart who shares a Paris apartment with her partner Gaspard. Their on-again, off-again dynamic and secret meetings create ongoing tension, challenging the idea of stable relationships and contributing to the complex web of romantic entanglements across the story.

• sandra
• gaspard
• paris
• relationship tension

François is an older documentary filmmaker whose relationship with Daphné is complicated by his infidelity. His return from the countryside to Paris creates a crisis of commitment, as he must choose between old attachments and new impulses while balancing career responsibilities and romantic obligations.

• francois
• filmmaker
• documentary
• indecision

The narrative emphasizes how small decisions ripple into lasting consequences for everyone involved. Daphné's pregnancy, François's indecision, and Maxime's navigation of past and new loves all represent fork-in-the-road moments where characters must choose between loyalty and desire, stability and risk.

• choices
• consequences
• loyalty
• desire
• decision

The film shows how memories of former loves actively shape current trust and longing. Victoire's history with Maxime, the secret moments between Sandra and Gaspard, and François's pattern of infidelity all influence present tensions, guiding characters toward or away from reconciliation.

• past relationships
• memory
• ghosts of past
• influence

Love Affair(s) has a distinctly melancholic tone with a slow, dialogue-driven pacing that prioritizes emotional depth over action. The rural, isolated setting creates a reflective and somber atmosphere, though the gentle delivery prevents it from feeling heavy. The ending is bittersweet, with characters returning to original partners but carrying a palpable sense of loss.

• tone
• melancholy
• atmosphere
• slow pacing
• bittersweet