Emmanuelle Devos draws on her own vocation in JUST A SIGH (LE TEMPS DE L’AVENTURE) in which she plays a jobbing actress, Alix.

At the beginning of JUST A SIGH Alix is waiting in the wings preparing to come on stage in an Ibsen play. In some ways, Alix is waiting in the wings in real life, being somewhat at a crossroads in career and personal life.

En route from Calais, where she is appearing in the play, to Paris, where she is going for an audition, she has a chance meeting with Doug, who asks directions to a church near the Gare du Nord.

Audition done, having no joy in contacting her boyfriend, and with credit card issues, she finds herself at the church where she spies Doug as one of the chief mourners at a funeral. She attends the wake at a local cafe and strikes up a conversation with Doug.

JUST A SIGH plays like a contemporary Gallic version of BRIEF ENCOUNTER. The clock is ticking. How will this relationship pan out? And what of her relationship with her boyfriend? And will her audition be successful?

Speaking of the audition scene, it’s a marvellous mini master class in the art of the audition that aspiring actors might conclude is worth the price of admission in itself. There is also a wonderful scene in which Alix goes contretemps with her sister, a sibling slap fest par excellence.