Film

The Barbarian Invasions

Name: The Barbarian Invasions
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2003
Cast: Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau, Marie-Josée Croze, Dorothée Berryman, Louise Portal

Drama

A Quebec professor dying of cancer is reconnected with his estranged son, who throws money and connections at an impossible medical fight while old friends resurface. Tender and funny, it's about mortality, regret, and whether we ever really know the people closest to us. A film that doesn't flinch from death but refuses to let it have the last word.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy talky, wry ensembles where old friends keep bickering even while the mood turns tender and the jokes hurt a little.

Skip it if the story is mostly people talking in rooms, so if you need plot momentum or a brisk pace, the endless kitchen-table debates may feel like eavesdropping on a reunion you weren't invited to.

What it asks of you: settle in for a little over ninety minutes of dense, looping conversation, with the laughter and the sorrow arriving in close alternation rather than in tidy scenes.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Decline of the American Empire1986

The spiritual predecessor: Denys Arcand's original ensemble about intellectuals, desire, and time's passage. You'll recognize these characters younger and see exactly what shaped Rémy, making the sequel's weight hit harder.

But It's a 1986 film about academic life in Montreal. If your tolerance for talky, idea-driven cinema is low, this won't convert you.

The Decline of the American Empire poster

About Schmidt2002

Nicholson's retired man confronts his marriage, his son, and mortality itself. Similar tone—comedy that doesn't joke about the serious stuff, and genuine affection for flawed people.

But American road-trip structure feels baggy at times. Nicholson's curmudgeon act can overshadow the emotional stakes if you're not in the mood.

Away from Her2007

Sarah Polley's film about a long marriage fractured by Alzheimer's. The same register: how love survives when the person you love becomes a stranger. Quietly devastating.

But It's slower and more austere. Where Arcand uses wit as a shield, Polley strips it away. Not everyone wants that much quiet.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Barbarian Invasions

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Ghost Story2017

Both films are preoccupied with mortality, legacy, and the strange persistence of the dead in the lives of the living, but Lowery treats it as metaphysics while Arcand treats it as dinner-party conversation.

A man dies and haunts his house as a sheet ghost, watching time pass. Formally audacious, tender, obsessed with time and what remains. Utterly unique in register—Arcand's themes filtered through magical realism and long takes.

But It's bizarre and extremely slow. The sheet ghost might read as silly. Some sequences are nearly plotless. This is cinema for people who like patience and strangeness in equal measure.

The Straight Story1999

Lynch directs a dying man's road trip to reconcile with his brother. Sunlight instead of darkness, Americana instead of Quebec, but the same gentle examination of estrangement and forgiveness.

But Astonishingly slow. If you haven't seen Lynch before, this will feel like nothing happens for almost two hours.

A Prophet2009

Jacques Audiard's prison drama about a young man's arc and the relationships that define him. Focused intensity where Arcand spreads wide, but the same depth of character and time's weight.

But Prison violence is graphic. It's also longer and denser—this is not a film that coddles you.

Man Bites Dog1992

Francophone dark comedy about a serial killer and media complicity. Arcand's tonal sophistication—mixing dread with laughter—done with shocking audacity.

But It's deeply uncomfortable and deliberately antagonistic. The subject matter will repel most people, rightly.

Incendies2010

Denis Villeneuve's mystery about a mother's secrets and their devastating cost. Epic emotional scope, the same conviction that cinema is the right medium for grief.

But Structurally tricky and brutally sad. The revelation hits like a hammer; some find it manipulative.

I've Loved You So Long2008

Philomène Clément's film about a woman reintegrating after prison. Quiet, observant, about the failure and persistence of family bonds. Arcand's spiritual cousin in a minor key.

But Very little happens. The reward is entirely in watching people talk and mean it. If plot momentum matters to you, move on.