‘Leave One Day’: Low-key musical about French chef - review

The Jerusalem Post reviews "Leave One Day," a French musical drama that has arrived in Israeli cinemas. While acknowledging its charm, the review suggests the film is best suited for a niche audience, particularly fans of Gallic pop music.

The film's director, Amelie Bonnin, makes her feature debut with "Leave One Day." Curiously, it was selected as the opening-night film at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, a prestigious slot that the review implies may be disproportionate to the film's innovative qualities. The reviewer finds the narrative, centered on a chef facing personal and professional challenges, to be familiar, drawing parallels to the popular series "The Bear."

The story centers on Cecile, a recent "France's Top Chef" winner, who discovers she is pregnant just as she's about to open a new restaurant. Simultaneously, her father suffers a severe heart attack, forcing her to return to her parents' rural truck stop restaurant. There, she navigates her father's stubborn refusal to retire, her mother's desire for travel, and a rekindled flirtation with a high school acquaintance.

While the film incorporates musical numbers where characters express their feelings, the review concludes that "Leave One Day" offers little in the way of originality beyond these interludes. It's a gentle, perhaps even quaint, cinematic experience that may resonate more with those already inclined towards French cinema and its musical traditions.