Paul’s Career and Fatherhood

Paul recovers professional enthusiasm while confronting the loss of freedom that fatherhood brings, a tension he rarely admits directly.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Career in Service

Working for Other People The assistant’s position Paul spends long days and nights serving musicians and producers, enduring delays and artistic demands. He hopes to build a career in music production but does not yet control his own work. A postponed ambition His professional life promises creativity while requiring obedience. The gap between his imagined future and his current role contributes to his desire for a life that feels larger.

Fatherhood Feels Like a Trap

A Changed Life Private escape Paul avoids home, invents appointments, and sometimes drinks alone. He feels ashamed of wanting freedom, even as the children’s love moves him deeply. Love and resistance coexist He does not regret the children, but he mourns the spontaneity and independence he has lost. The conflict remains largely internal, leaving Myriam to bear more of the daily work.

A Professional Breakthrough

Music Finally Opens Up A new opportunity Paul is offered the chance to produce a well-known singer’s record and begins to work on music that feels genuinely his own. His energy and confidence return. Domestic dependence enables it Paul points to Louise when Myriam worries about their absences. The success he experiences is connected to the caregiver’s labor, though he does not fully consider the consequences for her.

The Watch and His Parents

Success Kept Quiet A luxury purchase Paul buys a secondhand Rolex after his career improves, but removes it before visiting his parents because he expects their disapproval. The watch reveals his new relation to money and status. A family disagreement Sylvie’s ideals and Paul’s changing ambitions create friction. His achievements bring pride and discomfort, while the trip briefly reminds him of an earlier, less burdened life.

The Father Left Behind

A Return to Catastrophe A police encounter Paul returns from a trip and is met at Gare du Nord by an officer, who delays telling him what has happened. The short wait becomes the last interval before his life changes irreversibly. A new identity The officer tells him that he is now the bereaved father of murdered children. His former conflicts over freedom and responsibility are overwhelmed by a loss for which no professional success can compensate.

Before the birth of Adam

The months after Adam’s birth

After Louise joins the household

The winter trip to Paul’s parents

The night of the murders