Ne Me Quitte Pas

The Flemish Bob and the Walloon Marcel have come together in the lonely woods and empty fields of Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. Both have seen their lives slip through their fingers, and now they share sorrow and drink-sodden nights. Bob, who looks like a weather-beaten explorer, hardly ever sees his grown-up children. He has lost his girlfriend and drinks rum like water. Marcel, a broken man caught up in divorce proceedings, drowns his misery in liters of beer. But at least they have one another.

Together they visit the dentist, celebrate carnival in the village pub and go to Marcel’s intake at a rehab clinic. But usually they meet at one of their kitchen tables, where drink and conversation flow freely. Although the pair is able to bring a sense of humor to bear on their gloomy lives, they always end up discussing a suicide pact.

The camera follows this couple thrown together by fate over several seasons in Direct Cinema style. This exceptional, character-driven story delivers heartwarming and sad, hilarious and very painful moments in provincial Belgium, which, like the two main characters, also seems to be in decay.