Vortex

An aging couple lives in a quiet apartment, the distinguished author and the retired psychiatrist. They confront the toll of age and ill health, with reality sometimes slipping away as the screen literally splits into two. Their daily routine reveals memories bound to books, objects, and shared routines that anchor them to the past.

As illness deepens, the pair drift apart and lose touch with one another. The film reinforces this through the split-screen motif, showing parallel lives that echo but don't connect. Their conversations become fragments, underscoring unspoken worries and fading intimacy.

The husband is reluctant to reveal his wife's condition and clings to a sense of control. He tries to finish a new book about cinema and dreams, hoping to preserve momentum in the face of decay. He resists selling the apartment, fearing the loss of memories wrapped in his books and cherished objects.

Stéphane, their son, lives separately with his young son Kiki and carries his own burden of addiction. He pleads with his parents to move into supervised housing with caretakers, hoping for help to manage the situation. Yet the husband refuses the move, determined to stay in the apartment he loves.

The husband's health deteriorates and he collapses from a heart attack in the apartment. In the morning, the wife discovers him on the floor and, at first, does not know what to do, then telephones Stéphane for help. The moment reveals the fragility of their bond and catalyzes a cascade of difficult choices.

The husband is taken to the hospital and ultimately dies, marking a turning point for the family. The death intensifies the strain between memory and loss as the film shifts its visual language. The split screens begin to reflect the new, separate realities of the surviving spouse and the son.

With the husband’s death, the split-screen dynamic shifts as Stéphane grows emotional and curls up on his mother’s lap. The apartment feels heavier as grief settles in, and the wife wanders the hallway in a daze. Time seems to stretch, highlighting how life continues despite loss.

Stéphane begins to use drugs again, overwhelmed by guilt and despair. His mother fights to guard him by removing all medications from the bathroom and trying to flush them away. The scene shows a fragile, desperate attempt to control danger in a house full of memories.

The wife dies peacefully in bed, though the film implies she succumbed to gas poisoning after turning on the kitchen stove. Her death arrives quietly, punctuating the film's meditation on care and neglect. The absence of her presence deepens the son's emotional burden.

At the funeral, Stéphane recounts the last months of caring for the couple while explaining their daily routines and losses. A slideshow presents moments from his mother's life, offering a bittersweet record of memory. The scene ties personal history to the communal ritual of mourning.

Looking at the wall of urns, Kiki asks whether his grandparents have a new home now. Stéphane reminds him that homes are for the living, not for the dead. The exchange underscores the film's meditation on memory, belonging, and the impermanence of possessions.

The apartment is shown emptied of almost everything, framed by still images of the couple and their mourning photos. The final image is the couple’s mourning photos, dated 1940-2020, reminding viewers of a life that moved from youth to loss. The last moments leave a quiet, unresolved sense of what it means to let go.