After Fall, Winter (2011) Reviews

Actor/writer/director/producer Eric Schaeffer follows-up his 1997 romantic drama Fall with this sequel set 15 years later, as successful novelist Michael Shiver (Schaeffer) wrestles with the growing fear that his creative well has run dry after just one book, and flees to Paris in search of inspiration. Settling in a room in the Montmartre district courtesy of his good friend Charles (Christian Mulot), Michael wanders into a local shop and crosses paths with Sophie (Lizzie Brocheré), a lonely yet self-assured hospice nurse currently caring for a cancer-stricken teen named Anaïs (Marie Luneau). Much like Michael, Sophie has had her fair share of heartache. And though at first Sophie is somewhat aloof, long conversations with Michael concerning the intense emotional demands of her job find the pair gradually developing a deep romantic bond. They both value honesty in a relationship above all else, yet meanwhile Sophie takes great pains not to reveal that she moonlights as a dominatrix to a very wealthy clientele. Later, when Sophie attempts to tactfully breach the subject by asking if Michael has ever dabbled in BDSM, his uninterested response only reinforces her decision to keep that sordid aspect of her life hidden. Meanwhile, Michael has been keeping a secret as well -- a fact that could spell the end of their whirlwind romance when both buried truths are finally revealed. After Fall, Winter is the second installment in an ambitious planned series of four films -- each set 15 years apart -- detailing the ongoing romantic struggles of a man striving to experience genuine intimacy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi