"Marriage," according to psychologist Blaine J. Fowers, "offers one of the best opportunities we have to develop character. Its importance and centrality make it a crucible where our mettle is continually tested and refined." The French director Maïwenn must agree. In My King, he offers a rounded and ribald portrait of a marriage between two very different people who struggle to define their relationship once the sexual attraction has cooled off. The drama unfolds from the perspective of the woman, played by Emmanuelle Bercot, who won Best Actress at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

They meet in a Paris nightclub and begin a tumultuous journey that will take them through courtship, marriage, parenthood, and countless battles to see who is in charge. Georgio (Vincent Cassel) is a rich restaurateur who is proud of his large circle of friends. He is handsome and charismatic enough to stand out in a crowded room.

Tony (Emmanuelle Bercot) is a thirtysomething lawyer who winds up getting the short end of the stick as their relationship develops over the years. In a telling moment, she reveals her feelings of inadequacy in bed, recalling that her ex-husband criticized her for having a vagina that was too big. Although Tony is not really ready for motherhood, she accedes to Georgio's wishes to have a child, and a son is born.

But perhaps the chief obstacle to their continuing intimacy is that Georgio is looking after and spending a great deal of time with Agnes (Chrystele Saint Louis Augustin), a former lover who is a Vogue model addicted to drugs and continuously feeling sorry for herself. More light is shed on Georgio through the opinions and observations of Tony's younger brother (Louis Garrel) and his girlfriend (Isild Le Besco) who sometimes are caught in the crossfire of verbal battles between the married couple.

The marriage unfolds through Tony's memories during her stay at a rehabilitation center after injuring her knee in a serious ski accident. The scenes of her wincing in pain and undergoing laborious treatments provided by a staff of young men reveal her ability to turn her suffering into something more transformative than just regaining her ability to walk again.

Most of My King follows Tony and Georgio's vain efforts to save their marriage: it is irreparably torn apart at the seams by his ego and need to control everything. With strong performances by Cassel and Bercot, we see how Georgio and Tony are unable to muster the patience, understanding, empathy, and forgiveness needed to sustain their life together in love.

Perhaps the oddest quirk in My King is the over-abundance of scenes of laughter, especially by Tony and her buddies at the rehabilitation center. The only problem is that much of it comes across as something akin to the canned laughter of TV situation comedies.

Screened through the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Festival, Lincoln Center, New York, March 2016.