Sandra Kienzler, a widow with a young daughter, Linn, works as a translator and interpreter in Paris. She cares for her father, Georg, a former philosophy teacher who has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease called Benson's syndrome, which affects his cognitive and sight abilities.
At a park, Sandra runs into Clément, a friend of her late husband's and a married chemical cosmologist who has returned to Paris after a work expedition at the North Pole. They make plans for dinner. Clément takes Sandra to his lab after she expresses interest in his profession. There, they share a kiss. They subsequently begin an affair.
Sandra's mother, Françoise, who has divorced Georg but helps care for him, informs Sandra that his condition is worsening. He can no longer dress himself or use the bathroom, and has frequent hallucinations. She says it is time to put him in a nursing home, where he will receive the full-time care he needs—which Sandra agrees with. They encounter problems in where to place him. Public homes may take up to two years to vacate a room, and the private ones are too expensive. He is placed in a hospital until they can figure out his definitive residence.
Sandra bumps into one of Georg's former students, who is very fond of him. She explains his disease to her and gives her her e-mail so she can send Georg a letter. Following Georg's admission, Sandra and her family must clean his house, which is packed with books. She takes a few, but has the idea to contact the former student and offer her to take them.
At the hospital, Georg talks constantly about his girlfriend Leïla, and is always confused about where he is and why. Sandra notices that his condition has progressed. He is moved temporarily into a public home, as the hospital can no longer have him. However, because he is somewhat independent in comparison to the other residents, the facility gives the family a week to find him a new home. They ultimately decide to place him at a private home.
Sandra's relationship with Clément starts to deteriorate: He cannot muster the courage to leave his wife and son, and she does not want to be just his mistress. While at the park with Sandra and Linn, Clément sees friends of his wife, and they escape the park immediately. At home, they have a discussion, and Clément proposes they take a break and get together again once he leaves his wife.
While tidying her home, Sandra finds a little notebook Georg used to keep track of his declining health, along with other notebooks that she identifies as a rough manuscript of an autobiography Georg had once mentioned about writing. She tells her mother and sister, Elodie, about her findings during Christmas dinner, and that one of the notebooks had a title written in German: "An einem schönen Morgen", which she translates to French as "One Fine Morning".
Clément calls Sandra and informs her he ended his marriage. They meet, and start dating officially. Summer comes along. Sandra, Linn and Clément visit Georg at the private home. They talk about their trip to Italy. Georg asks for Leïla, and continues to state he does not know what he is doing there, or why he is there. He no longer recognizes his daughter or granddaughter. As they talk in his room, one of the nurses invites them to a group activity. Georg, along with Sandra, Linn, and Clément, joins the other residents who are gathered in a circle. They are given lyrics to the song "Mon amant de Saint-Jean", and sing it in acappella together. Sandra becomes overwhelmed and starts crying. She tells Clément it is time to leave.
Sandra, Clément and Linn decide to climb up the Sacré-Cœur Basilica's butte. As they arrive at the dome, they observe Paris.
One Fine Morning is produced by Les Films Pelléas in co-production with Arte France Cinéma, Dauphin Films, Germany's Razor Film and Mubi,[4] with worldwide sales handled by Les films du losange.[7] The film had its world premiere in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 75th Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 2022.[1][8] It was released theatrically in France on 5 October 2022 by Les films du losange and in Germany on 8 December 2022 by Weltkino Filmverleih.[9][10] The film was released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics in North America, Latin America, and the Middle East,[11] and through video on demand on 11 April 2023.[12]
Reception
Box office
One Fine Morning grossed $421,639 in France and $959,273 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.4 million.[2]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 148 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Finely wrought to a fault, One Fine Morning presents a subtle, well-acted look at life and love".[4]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 39 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]
