“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism” is the phrase attributed to the philosopher Mark Fisher, although also to Slavoj Žižek, in connection with their analysis of contemporary life found in Fisher’s book Capitalist Realism (2009). In this sense, Somewhere in love, or Une vie rêvée in its original title, the new film by French director Morgan Simon, puts into question several cliché aspects of modernity that had been socially agreed upon until just a few decades ago and that still permeate the collective unconscious of many societies. Among these are the traditional nuclear family, family celebrations, heteronormativity, insensitive masculinities and the provider male figure, to name only a few.

Nicole (Valeria Bruni), a fifty two year old mother, has lost her job and lives in the suburbs of France with Serge (Félix Lefebvre), her young son who studies biology. In a blend of tragedy and comedy, she discovers during a visit to the bank that her finances are in ruins, with a debt of forty thousand euros. Frustrated by this situation and by being rejected from jobs for being considered too old or for living far from central Paris, Nicole decides to spend Christmas in her small and modest apartment with her son. A heated argument leads them to distance themselves for almost a week when Serge decides to stay with his new girlfriend. This interval becomes essential for the development of the story. From this point on, a series of events prompt a new way of thinking in the protagonist, leading to an epiphany about how to rethink her life, what she truly wants to do with it (the hardest thing to know), and with whom and how she wishes to relate.