Le Passager (2006)
Directed by Eric Caravaca

Film Synopsis

Thomas, a man in his late thirties, is forced to take stock of his life when he learns that his brother Richard has just died.  He is ill-equipped to deal with this sudden crisis in his life and, having positively identified the body, he finds he isn't yet up to the task of arranging the funeral.  Aware that he needs a few days out to get his thoughts together, Thomas returns to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the town in the south of France where he and his brother grew up together.  Unable to account for why Richard should choose to kill himself, Thomas begins an investigation into the circumstances of his death as he reflects on their past life together.

All that Thomas has to go on initially are a letter and a photograph that he found in a bag belonging to Richard.  These soon bring him into contact with his brother's former girlfriend Jeanne and a teenager, Lucas, that the couple befriended.  As he gets to know Richard's friends, who are just as shocked by his death as he is, Thomas gradually starts to piece together the true portrait of the brother he realises he hardly knew.  In doing so, he is forced to look inwards and confront his own past, which was not always an entirely happen one...