Although it premiered at Cannes in 2023, it’s taken two full years for tempestuous French drama Along Came Love to wash up on our shores. The latest film from acclaimed director Katell Quillévéré (Heal The Living) delves into an apparent marriage of convenience, positing that love within wedlock can sometimes take a rather complicated form.

Set in the aftermath of World War II, the film follows Madeleine (Anaïs Demoustier), who is driven from her small French community after getting pregnant by a German soldier. Years later we find her working as a waitress in a coastal town and caring for her son Daniel (played first by Hélios Karyo, then by Josse Capet and Paul Beaurepaire as he grows up); it’s there that Madeleine meets François (Vincent Lacoste), a wealthy archaeology student who ditches his hot-headed male lover to be with her. Later, when the couple take charge of an American GIs bar, they enter into what seems like a mutually beneficial but extremely taboo relationship with black serviceman Jimmy (Morgan Bailey).

With its themes of forbidden longing, the film takes inspiration from Douglas Sirk’s seminal 1950s melodramas, combining this with a racier, more modern approach to sex and sexuality. Yet, for all the romantic turmoil, it so often doesn’t feel well fleshed out, particularly in relation to the character of Daniel, who mopes about on the sidelines while his parents behave recklessly, and whose own psychological struggles remain strangely unexplored.

Along Came Love feels like a less distinctive offering than Quillévéré’s previous films such as Suzanne and her eye-catching 2010 debut Love Like Poison. Still, it’s classy, well-acted and engaging throughout, transcending the constraints of its period setting by refreshingly acknowledging that there’s no right way to approach your life.

Along Came Love is in cinemas from Friday 30 May.