The Way to Happiness

Seeking to overcome childhood wartime trauma, a charismatic restaurateur who reveres movies finds it tough to move on, in this beguiling romance dramedy. Saül Birnbaum barely escaped the Shoah on a Kindertransport from Vienna. In 1986 Brussels, he runs a technicolor delicatessen adorned with Hollywood memorabilia, and charms patrons with trivia and mimicking old film icons. With an exiled Chilean filmmaker, Saül works on a movie about his wartime memories. But when he falls for a comely projectionist at the local cinematheque with secrets of her own, he must ferret out a chance at a felicitous future. This nostalgia-­infused charmer features heated chemistry between lead Simon Abkarian and his haunted flame, portrayed by Pascale Arbillot.