This Must Be the Place

Lucas sneaks into his garden in Cumbria in 1995 for a cigarette. His wife, Maeve, is trying to conceive, and she’s told him not to smoke in the house. Claudette calls, and they talk about the possibility of Maeve’s conception after a round of in vitro fertilization. Lucas asks about Ari, who is just a few months old, and Claudette invites Lucas and Maeve to come see her.

Claudette picks up Lucas and Maeve when they arrive at the airport in Donegal. Lucas and Maeve wondered whether it was wise to come on the trip, given the conflict they experienced when they visited Claudette and Timou in Italy. Claudette surprises Lucas by telling him that she needs his help.

When they get to the house, it is ramshackle, nearly falling apart. Lucas walks through it, discovering the bedroom and the nursery. He hears Claudette and Maeve talking in the living room downstairs, carefully avoiding the topic of Maeve’s fertility treatments. Claudette appears behind him and asks if she can put the house in his name in case she ever needs it. She forbids him from telling their mother and warns him not to believe what he reads about her. He agrees, and for a moment, while looking at Ari lying on Claudette’s chest, he feels the potential of his own child in the air around him.