The Truth

Fabienne Dangeville is a very famous French actress, giving an interview about work on her upcoming book. Her daughter, screenwriter Lumir, son-in-law actor Hank and granddaughter Charlotte arrive. Lumir is surprised that the book has already been printed, as she expected to read it first, before being published. Fabienne tells her that she sent her the manuscript before having the book printed. Same night, Lumir reads the book.

Next day, Lumir confronts Fabienne about some lines in the book which depicts her relationship with her mother as a fairy tale story. Fabienne was very rarely there for Lumir as a child. Lumir also asks why she doesn’t mention Sarah once, and Fabienne simply says it’s her book. Later, Luc, Fabienne’s manager tells Lumir that Fabienne is doing her current film because it stars Manon Lenoir, the next big actress who reminds everyone of Sarah. It’s called Memories of My Mother.

Lumir goes to the film set, acting as Fabienne’s assistant, and watches the film shoot. It’s a sci-fi movie where a mother is dying and goes to live in space, where she stops again. She returns to Earth in varying years to visit her daughter, who is older and older with each visit while she doesn’t age. Fabienne plays the daughter in her seventies. During a read through, the room seems very impressed with Manon, but Fabienne seems annoyed and says she thinks Manon is putting a lot on.

Luc tells Fabienne that he plans to retire and live with his son’s family. Fabienne is surprised to know that Luc had so many grandchildren. Lumir asks him why, and he says that Fabienne didn’t mention him even once in her memoir as if he never existed. He tells Lumir thar she can manage Fabienne as they would make a good team. Lumir’s father, Fabienne’s ex Pierre surprises everyone by arriving at the house, and Lumir quickly surmises he wants money, which he thinks he deserves for Fabienne publishing a book about him. Lumir tells him that the book mentions him, dead.

Fabienne’s current husband, Jacques, makes dinner for the whole family, including Pierre. When Pierre congratulates Hank on his acting successes, Fabienne downplays Hank’s TV career. Lumir then brings up how Fabienne stole the award winning role from Sarah by sleeping with the director and that Sarah’s suicide was Fabienne’s fault. Fabienne says that it was an accident. Lumir leaves in tears. Hank, who had quit drinking, begins drinking wine.

The next day, while shooting scenes with Manon, Fabienne keeps saying she’s being distracted by things like cell phones ringing and she keeps messing up. During a later take, she falls down, but then pulls out a great performance. Fabienne wants Luc back, but doesn’t know what to do. Lumir tells her to apologize, and Fabienne says that she has never apologized and asks Lumir to write an apology for her. Later, the family has dinner with Luc and his family, and Fabienne tells Luc that Lumir wants her back instead of apologizing.

Back on the set, Fabienne panics and leaves saying she’s quitting acting and that Manon is mocking her. Lumir asks her to just admit Manon is better actress and quit running away. Fabienne returns to set. She tells Lumir that she sees Sarah sometimes, and thinks she would be better at acting if Sarah was watching her. She offers Manon a compliment and finishes the film.

Lumir compliments her on the scene, and later Manon stops by to compliment her. Fabienne notes that it was the kind of thing she would have done with Sarah, who Manon reminds her of. She ends up giving Manon Sarah’s favorite dress, which fits her perfectly. Manon asks Fabienne what Sarah was like, and she tells her how talented she was.

Fabienne tells Lumir she admits she was jealous of Sarah. Lumir asks her why that wasn’t in her book, and Fabienne says maybe in the second edition. Lumir hugs her mother, cries and tells her she must truly have magical powers because she’s on the verge of forgiving her. Fabienne then suddenly gets upset that she should have played the scene with Manon like this and what a waste it is to not use the emotions in the scene.

Charlotte goes to Fabienne and tells her that her number one wish is that she wants to be an actress someday. She tells Fabienne she wants her to go into space so that she can watch her become an actress, which touches her. Charlotte then goes back to Lumir, and it’s revealed it’s a line that Lumir wrote for her. Charlotte asks if it’s real or not, and Lumir simply smiles.

Luc returns to work, where Fabienne has Charlotte present him with a homemade medal and is nice to him. She asks him to have a reshoot scheduled for Memories of My Mother, since she thinks she can do the scene better now. Lumir asks Luc if he really ever intended to leave, but he doesn’t say. The family heads out together, and Fabienne notes that she loves Parisian winters.