THE STORY – After receiving an unexpected and shocking diagnosis, a young man wanders the streets of Paris as he embarks on a life-changing quest.
THE CAST – Théodore Pellerin, William Lebghill, Salomé Dewaels & Jeanne Balibar
THE TEAM – Pauline Loquès (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 97 mins
Premiering in the Critics’ Week section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, this engaging French drama marks the feature debut of writer-director Pauline Loquès. The synopsis might make it sound like it’s full-on doom and gloom, but this is a surprisingly warm-hearted movie that’s both touching and gently funny.
Set in present-day Paris, the film stars Canadian actor Theodor Pellerin as mild-mannered Nino, 28, who receives an unexpected diagnosis of throat cancer after attending the hospital for what he thought was a persistent sore throat and tiredness. Because there is no time to lose, Nino is told that he will have to start aggressive chemo and radiotherapy in three days and that there is a chance the treatment might make him infertile, so he needs to freeze his sperm over the weekend if he ever wants to have children. After that bombshell of an opening, Nino’s problems somehow manage to get even worse when he’s locked out of his apartment for the weekend because his concierge dies. The clock may be ticking, and the stakes are undeniably high, but this is no race-against-time thriller. Instead, Nino drifts around Paris, meeting friends (who throw him a surprise party since, with exquisitely poor timing, it’s also his 29th birthday), his mother (Jeanne Balibar), an ex-girlfriend, and a former schoolmate (Salomé Dewaels), but he struggles to tell them the full extent of his situation.
Loquès’ script feels deeply personal from the outset, and indeed, the Director’s Statement reveals that the story was born out of Loquès losing a real-life friend to cancer at a young age. Accordingly, her heartfelt sensitivity is palpable throughout the film as Nino navigates the world around him in light of his situation. The opening scene sets the tone of the film beautifully, as Nino receives his diagnosis matter-of-factly, with the doctor under the impression that he has already been told, due to an administrative error. The scene is both shocking and sad, but Loquès and Pellerin somehow manage to find humor in it too – the sheer awkwardness of the sequence is exquisite.
That comedy of awkwardness hits a similar height when Nino visits his mother, intending to give her the news, and she says, “Are you transitioning?” He settles for telling her he is depressed, but the writing and performance leave the audience in no doubt about how much he wishes he could tell her the truth – just one of several relatable and heart-breaking details in the film. Nino’s continued struggle to convey his Earth-shattering news to his nearest and dearest effectively forms the beating heart of the film, which becomes a celebration of love, friendship, and kindness. His diagnosis may be potentially terminal, but the film finds notes of hope as well, not least in Nino’s sweetly observed meet-cute and subsequent interactions with Dewaels’ character Zoe, his former schoolmate, and her young son.
Pellerin (“Lurker,” “Never Rarely Sometimes Always“) is terrific in the central role. He’s in practically every scene, effortlessly carrying the film with his ever-watchable screen presence, which is somewhat doleful but never downbeat. At any rate, he radiates a disarmingly simple sweetness, along with a thoughtful quality that serves him well. Essentially, your heart goes out to him at every turn, and you’d be hard-pressed not to find yourself muttering, “Oh, bless…“ under your breath every time he pulls a particular face.
Elsewhere, there’s strong work from Balibar as Nino’s mother, while Dewaels is charming and likable as Zoe, generating touching chemistry with Pellerin. Similarly, Camille Rutherford contributes a lively and attractive turn as Nino’s best female friend – the scene where he helps her with her IVF injection in the bathroom is another stand-out and a great example of the film’s rounded portrayals of friendship. On top of that, William Lebghill is good value as Nino’s best friend, and there’s a decidedly unexpected and very welcome cameo from French star Mathieu Amalric as a wisdom-dispensing stranger that Nino encounters in a Turkish bath (a lovely scene).
It’s a frequent film reviewing cliché that the city a film is set in becomes like a character, but that really feels true here. In particular, Loquès makes you feel like you’re seeing a side of Paris you don’t usually see, especially in movies. There are no glamorous shots of the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame here – instead, there are frequent shots of the city under construction, with all the mess that entails, as if underlining that life goes on in a constant state of change. The film is further heightened by Lucie Baudinaud’s atmospheric cinematography, which does a terrific job of capturing Paris at night, underlining the sense of a city in a state of flux and the twilight hour, where the streets are full of all manner of different characters. The soundtrack is excellent, too, courtesy of music supervisor Thibault Deboaisne.
In short, this is an emotionally engaging and beautifully acted drama that transcends its ostensibly downbeat plot to deliver something rather special. It also marks writer-director Pauline Loquès as a serious talent to watch, and it will be fascinating to see what she does next.
