Tanguy

Edith Guetz gives birth to Tanguy and immediately blurts that he could stay at home his whole life. The line sets up the central tension between affection and dependence that drives the film. The early moment frames Tanguy’s lifelong comfort with family over independence.

Despite a solid résumé and a capacity to support himself, Tanguy remains at home. He is a Sciences Po graduate and a teacher at INALCO, pursuing a thesis on subjectivity in ancient China, fluent in Chinese and Japanese. He defends his statement that his parents are intelligent, open-minded, and generous, who let him do what he enjoys.

Paul and Édith become increasingly annoyed by how often Tanguy comes and goes and the casual one-night stands he brings home. They long for him to leave and start supporting himself, but he resists the idea of independence. The dynamic hints at an impossible compromise between love and control.

Édith regularly consults a psychiatrist to explain her dreams of killing or mutilating her son, revealing the depth of her anxiety. The sessions underscore the emotional toll of having a dependent child. The moment blends dark humor with genuine distress within the family.

Tanguy, during a chat with his grandmother, reveals his ambivalence about living alone and compares a recently settled friend's life to his own 'daily happiness' with his parents. The conversation foreshadows the contradictions of his desire for autonomy. It underscores the persistent pull of family in his choices.

Paul and Édith begin covertly undermining the household: they damage clothes, remove or destroy items, and adjust the environment to make living at home less appealing. The petty acts accumulate into a pressure campaign meant to coax him toward independence. The family’s strategy shifts from mischief to a coercive push.

They extend the campaign to his routines: Paul pretends insomnia and joins him at night to talk, while Edith takes over his office space and disrupts his work. She also disrupts his love life by undermining his relationships. Tanguy endures the chaos with a calm, ironic patience.

Finally, Paul agrees to finance an apartment for Tanguy. He chooses a flat in the Asian neighborhood of the 13th arrondissement. The prospect of independence is tempered by the new social and emotional costs of living apart from his parents.

Even with a separate home, Tanguy experiences anxiety and panic attacks at night, culminating in a hospital visit. Edith, moved by pity, invites him back to the family home. The reassurance of the family space becomes both refuge and trap.

Back at home, Paul imposes a strict 'military discipline'—tidying rules and obedience. He also arranges a tutoring position for Tanguy to keep him productive. The coercive structure reshapes their relationship rather than restoring harmony.

When the parents discover Tanguy's income from his grant, teaching, and private lessons totals about 25,000 francs a month, they throw him out. Tanguy sues for support, invoking Article 203 of the Civil Code. He wins, reinforcing the legal obligation of parents to care for their adult children.

After his victory, Tanguy returns to a transformed room — a nursery with a cot and mobile. His mother participates as a student and even sleeps with one of them, humiliating him in front of his class. Despite the humiliation, Tanguy forgives her and maintains his calm.

Paul, in a last-ditch move, hires thugs to rough up his son, but learns that Tanguy has already left, leaving behind a generous letter thanking his parents. The household finally breaks free from coercion, though the emotional scars remain.

Ten months later, Odile falls in the bathroom and requires months of rehabilitation. She reminds Paul of Article 205, linking the responsibilities the elderly parents owe to care with the obligations of supporting children. The balance of family duty shifts in the wake of her accident.

Ten months after, Tanguy invites his parents to visit in Beijing, where he has married a Chinese woman and is expecting a child. In this Chinese family setting, multiple generations live under one roof, prompting Odile to conclude that some people truly take responsibility for their family. The ending reframes independence as a shared, intergenerational obligation.