Guillaume Canet's Les Petits Mouchoirs (2010)

Unlike American cinema, the French movie world isn't exactly overrun by films de potes, or buddy movies. But then, Guillaume Canet did spend a little time in the States, he's obviously influenced by American directors, and there isn't a single background song that doesn't have English words. But this is still a very French film.

Friends Max (François Cluzet) and his wife Véronique (Valérie Bonneton), Ludo (Jean Dujardin), Marie (Marion Cotillard), Vincent (Benoît Magimel) and his wife Juliette (Anne Marivin), Eric (Gilles Lellouche) and others go every year for two weeks to rich Max's holiday home in Cap Ferrat. But this year a terrible accident has happened: on leaving a night club in the early hours of the morning Ludo went though a red light, a lorry hit him and he is now in intensive care. The friends discuss if it is morally justifiable to leave for a good time, with Marie (once a lover of Ludo's) being very dubious. But they take off all the same.

The title – which as usual doesn't quite hit the right spot in English translation – refers to the secrets we all keep hidden under wraps. Even before they leave though Vincent confesses to Max that he likes his hands, and even (although, er, he's not gay at all) that he's in love with him. Very bad move: Max is exaggeratedly homophobic, and this will lead to catastrophe.

Even though Ludo isn't there he is there in the minds of the friends, and sometimes anger rises to the surface, although of course we know that this may well be caused by the petits mouchoirs. Juliette keeps hers to herself, although he see her – obviously sexually frustrated – looking at the internet for sexual release. But they (sometimes guiltily of course) enjoy themselves a great deal, waterskiing, drinking endlessly, laughing at videos of themselves from previous years. Apart from the older Max, the friends are chronologically late thirties, early forties, but their behaviour verges on the adolescent. Apart, again, from the outsider of the group, neighbour Jean-Louis (Joel Dupuch) who is the non-professional actor who is a real-life oyster farmer.

The big fireworks come when Max's (whose behaviour is almost inevitably bad) more or less calls Vincent a pédé (queer), with the result that Vincent thumps he in the face, packs the family's bags and away they go.

The next day is Jean-Louis's big moment to yell at the assembled company: there they are acting like nothing is important, while he's phoned the hospital and discovered Ludo died that morning. Time for big sobs, time for guilt big time. This short summary doesn't do this brilliant psychological film much justice, but I tried.