A fable of emotional liberation and chocolate. A mother and daughter move to a small French town where they open a chocolate shop. The town, religious and morally strict, is against them as they represent free-thinking and indulgence. When a group of Boat Gypsies float down the river the prejudices of the Mayor leads to a crisis.
This movie contains 9 potentially triggering events.
There's a typical casting of a battered woman with an alcoholic, abusive husband. Her suffering is highlighted as a foundation of her future transformation and conveys the message that progress is good and that it's okay to change the status quo.
Eh, sort of. There's a statue of a nude fertility goddess made of chocolate. There are also chocolates that look like hershey's kisses with white tips called "Nipples of Venus".
There's a small, repeated pattern painted on the inside walls of the chocolaterie. There are also images of small, uniform pieces of chocolate in bowls.
Not really beaten up, but a young girl is teased by several other students at school. They mock her for having an imaginary kangaroo friend and the kids end up in a physical scuffle where the victim gets blamed as the instigator.
Not on drugs, but someone over-indulges on chocolate in a fit of fury. They pass out and are offered an alka-seltzer drink as an antidote when they wake up.
"Meltdown" is a vague term that can mean different things, but there are a couple instances that might qualify. An abusive, intoxicated husband goes on an angry, drunken rampage at the chocolaterie in response to his wife refusing to move back home with him. He gets very violent and attacks his wife, who is staying there, and the shop's owner.
*Significant spoiler: The town Comte finally breaks down when he sees everyone, including a lady he likes, giving into temptation and going into the chocolaterie. He then breaks into the shop and both destroys and eats the front window display in a fit of anger, giggles, and tears before he passes out.
A young girl wins a couple of dead ducks or phesants in a game of belote. She briefly holds them up to show her mother. You don't see them anymore after this scene.
A female character is held down and choked by an angry drunken man.
Mild spoiler: The same female character is also restrained while swimming across the river to rescue her daughter whom she thinks is trapped on a burning boat.
There are nomadic characters who appear and go against the conservative Christian ideals of the town, and there are flyers posted around town that show predjudice and hate speech towards them