A film made by a person who loves people. Though none of these characters are perfect, each of them registers as a human being full of contradictions and competing desires. A scene early in the film around the lunch table, as well as the entire sequence at the dinner party stand out. The camera is often uncomfortably close to the characters, creating an intimacy with these people that helps to support the subtle criticisms of France's treatment of immigrants. Excellent film.

The characters are wonderfully fleshed-out and the family dynamics compelling and believable but I still feel some ambivalence towards this very good film because some scenes are way too long and the frustrating ending left me cold. But still highly recommended as a terrific social commentary.

A rather mediocre film that, apart from some sudden glimpses and few good scenes, keeps worsening, only to end with a lengthy, tedious scene. 151 minutes of pseudo-culture.

Strained analogy time again! This is like a French-Arabic Eat Drink Man Woman filtered through Cassavetes and Loach. The immediacy of the unfussy, documentary-style cinematography really highlights the astoundingly rich and genuine performances. All of the primary characters are perfectly realized, and so are the secondary characters. It did a take a while for the film to suck me in, but once it did, I was really engaged with both the family drama and the subtle commentary on ethnic identity.

"The best scenes in Tunisian-French writer-director Abdellatif Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain resemble the unique protean bouillabaisses found in port cities." - Joseph Jon Lanthier

I enjoyed the family dynamics - Slimane's relationship with his ex-wife along with his first children as well as his girlfriend and her daughter. It comes off as sort of a documentary following Slimane and his family, without the cameras presence being known. The film, however, didn't flow well. The ending was just all over the place, all of that buildup of Slimane's interesting life just sputtered to go nowhere fast.

The relationship between Rym and Slimane was completely believable, charming and touching, and it is neccessary that we believe so much in her daughterly relationship with him for the incredibly poignant, tense and exhausting grand finale. But there's also the highly enjoyable way we see Slimane's newfound business grow believably right from conception point, the extended dialogues full of life, humour and a feeling of reality, the engaging look at family. Not perfect, but certainly great.