The Eighth Day
“What a difference a day makes…”
Georges has Down syndrome, living at a mental-institution, Harry is a busy businessman, giving lectures for young aspiring salesmen. He is successful in his business life, but his social life is a disaster since his wife left him and took their two children with her. This weekend his children came by train to meet him, but Harry, working as always, forgot to pick them up. Neither his wife or his children want to see him again and he is driving around on the country roads, anguished and angry. He almost runs over Georges, on the run from the institution since everybody else went home with their parents except him, whose mother is dead. Harry tries to get rid of Georges but he won't leave his new friend. Eventually a special friendship forms between the two of them, a friendship which makes Harry a different person.
Details
Release Date: 5/22/1996
Runtime: 118 minutes
Languages: French
Director: Jaco Van Dormael
00Production
Companies: D. A. Films, Working Title Films, Pan-Européenne, TF1 Films Production, RTL-TVi
Countries: Belgium, France, United Kingdom
Where to watch · FR
Trailer
Gallery
Gallery
Reviews
deepkino
This movie quietly exposes how isolating modern life can be. The contrast between structured, “successful” loneliness and socially excluded loneliness is handled in such a subtle but powerful way. It never lectures you — it just shows you small, human moments that slowly build into something heartbreaking. I found myself thinking about the characters like real people long after the credits rolled. Not an easy watch emotionally, but absolutely worth it. Daniel Auteuil plays the stressed, disconnected Harry to perfection, but Pascal Duquenne as Georges is the film’s magical heart. The magic isn't in big plot twists, but in the quiet, absurd, and beautiful moments where Georges' view of the world slowly dismantles Harry's. It avoids sheer sentimentality by being genuinely funny and sometimes painfully honest. The chemistry between Auteuil and Duquenne is incredible. A small, quiet film that hits like an emotional truck!
deepkino
This movie quietly exposes how isolating modern life can be. The contrast between structured, “successful” loneliness and socially excluded loneliness is handled in such a subtle but powerful way. It never lectures you — it just shows you small, human moments that slowly build into something heartbreaking. I found myself thinking about the characters like real people long after the credits rolled. Not an easy watch emotionally, but absolutely worth it. Daniel Auteuil plays the stressed, disconnected Harry to perfection, but Pascal Duquenne as Georges is the film’s magical heart. The magic isn't in big plot twists, but in the quiet, absurd, and beautiful moments where Georges' view of the world slowly dismantles Harry's. It avoids sheer sentimentality by being genuinely funny and sometimes painfully honest. The chemistry between Auteuil and Duquenne is incredible. A small, quiet film that hits like an emotional truck!
