French writer and director Sophie Fillières examines a married couple’s descent into separation, embodied by Emmanuelle Devos and Mathieu Amalric, who have previously appeared together numerous times (A Christmas Tale). They star as Pomme and Pierre, a married couple in their 40s on the brink of disaster. From the opening, they are fighting and insulting one another. Filled with funny and honestly biting moments, If You Don’t, I Will offers a blunt portrayal of a marriage in crisis.

Pomme (Devos) and Pierre (Amalric, recently seen in this year’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Blue Room) have lost the romance in their relationship. They attend parties, art shows, and go hiking together, but every moment they spend together looks like torture. They annoy each other constantly. Pomme feels like Pierre doesn’t love her anymore, and Pierre is irritated with her quirks, such as bringing home weird fruit and her habit of packing wine for a hiking trip. To top it all off, they’re having some money issues. He’s also been spending a lot of time with a local weather reporter, Mellie (Joséphine de La Baume), and her son, which catches the suspicions of Pomme.

Pomme spends time visiting and shopping for her grown son from a previous relationship, Romain (Nelson Delapalme), but he’s occupied with his new girlfriend and her family. She has also recently recovered from surgery to take care of a benign brain tumor, a subject those around her awkwardly bring up. Finally fed up after arguing about when to head home and who carries the backpack on a hike, Pomme decides not to return to civilization with Pierre, but to carry on overnight in the woods. With just a backpack of snacks and not much else, she begins a multiple-day stay in the wilderness, while Pierre worries and has to figure out a way to explain her absence.

The film’s a simultaneously touching and uncomfortable look at a marriage, like watching a real-life couple fighting in a public place. Fillières makes it a train wreck that’s mesmerizing to watch. It has a realistic feel, without being too heavy-handed. The bold colors of the film juxtapose with the crisis that is taking place on camera. Amalric continues to be a reliable and fascinating actor (his recent performance in Roman Polanski’s acclaimed Venus in Fur has recently been added to Netflix). He plays a reasonably unlikable husband with such subtly and peculiarity it’s easy to feel sorry for Pierre even when he’s saying awful things to his wife.

The film, however, really belongs to Devos. The narrative focuses more so on Pomme’s struggle to find her strength and figure out what to do about her marriage. Her journey into the woods becomes a little clichéd at times; with a film like Wild out in theaters this holiday season, the solitary-women-finding-herself-in-the-wilderness narrative already seems a bit played out. Still, the ending surprised me quite a bit. The film ultimately doesn’t rely on the formulaic idea that absence makes the heart grow fonder, or that all Pomme needs is some time alone to sort out her life. With two of France’s most dependable actors at the helm, If You Don’t, I Will packs a punch that is humorous, but doesn’t shy away from the unforgiving reality of a failing relationship.