Can victims benefit from talking to their attacker and even forgiving them? The new - series My faultfeaturing Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette, opens a relevant discussion on the rehabilitation of criminals and the still little-known approaches to restorative justice.
Four friends come together in honor of one of their own, Vania, murdered exactly 25 years earlier by her ex-boyfriend David (Maxim Gaudette) during a party. Two of them being owners of a brewery, they are launching a beer for the occasion in homage to the deceased, L’Inoubliée. After all these years, they still think about her regularly, if not every day. The wound is still deep, particularly for Rémi (Dany Boudreault), who was also stabbed by the culprit and who is now quadriplegic.
Bérénice (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) became a mediator in a restorative justice center. She would like her friends to start a discussion with the murderer with a view to healing. They turn a deaf ear to his suggestion, until various circumstances force the presence of David, on parole for two years, into their lives.
The subject is complex and charged. This is why the author Chantal Cadieux decided to present the story from different points of view. Bérénice wants to understand David’s gesture, while Lysanne (Cynthia Wu-Maheux) has boundless hatred for him. Rémi is tempted to communicate with his tormentor, while his wife, Marie-Dominique (Jessica Barker), is closed to the idea. The characters will all evolve and “arrive at the end of the quest in a different place,” said the director, Miryam Bouchard, during a round table with journalists on Monday.
“We each experienced femicide in the 1990s,” says Mme Bouchard about her and the screenwriter. “We all react differently to that. It changes us for life. Looking back, you can see how it changed your journey. »
“It’s polarizing,” adds Chantal Cadieux, who also wrote the film They were fiveabout four women who reconnect 15 years after the murder of one of their friends. “There is nothing that requires us to forgive. There are people who are angry with good reason. I decided to write about it, others are not capable. »
The viewer is led to feel a certain sympathy for the murderer, who seems to bitterly regret his action. We see him trying to rebuild his life since his release from prison.
“There is a lot of candor and gentleness in his face. We wouldn’t immediately think that he’s a bad guy,” the director emphasizes about the actor.
Open minds
The series also follows other cases handled at the restorative justice center, such as the meeting between a girl and her father, convicted of pedophilia. This allows us to explore various facets of this approach.
-To represent their profession as fairly as possible, Mme Cadieux met with mediators, while Mme Bouchard visited two restorative justice centers.
“That being said, I write fiction. This may not be exactly what would happen in reality,” warned the author.
The latter wishes to make this dialogue approach known, which she finds fabulous to the point of wanting to follow training in the subject herself. “Often, victims want to hear excuses: ‘I think every day about what I did to you, I regret it and I wouldn’t do it again,’” reports Mme Cadieux. She explains that participants can choose to confront their attacker directly, but there are also discussions in groups or with people who have committed similar acts.
Actress Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin believes that the series opened her eyes to the possibilities of restorative justice.
“Being completely non-judgmental was a challenge,” she says of her character, who lends a respectful ear to criminals.
She hopes that this work will open the discussion on openness to others, even in a situation as dramatic as a violent crime.
