The Eighth Day

The Eighth Day centres on Harry, a businessman who spends his working life delivering motivational seminars on professional success while his own home life has fallen apart; his wife Julie has left and taken their two daughters. Driving along country roads, he nearly hits Georges, a man with Down syndrome who has walked away from the residential institution where he lived after his mother died. Harry initially wants nothing to do with him, but Georges attaches himself to Harry and calls him his friend, and a bond forms between the two men that changes Harry's outlook.

The film was directed by Jaco Van Dormael, who also wrote the screenplay, and it followed his 1991 debut Toto the Hero. Daniel Auteuil plays Harry and Pascal Duquenne plays Georges, with Miou-Miou as Julie. Philippe Godeau produced, and the production was a Belgian, British and French co-production. It runs 118 minutes.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.3 out of 10 from 321 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 6.8 out of 10 from six reviews, so audiences have rated it somewhat more favourably than critics. It remains among the director's earlier features, preceding Mr. Nobody and The Brand New Testament.