Directed by:
Emmanuelle NicotScreenplay:
Emmanuelle NicotCinematography:
Caroline GuimbalComposer:
Frederic AlvarezCast:
Zelda Samson, Alexis Manenti, Marie Denarnaud, Jean-Louis Coullo'ch, Maia Sandoz, Sandrine Blancke, Diego MurgiaPlots(1)
Dalva lives with her father, whom she loves to no end. But his love for her is not purely parental, as a police raid reveals one evening. Dalva finds herself in a children’s home, where she immediately stands out: She dresses and makes herself up like a grown woman, because that is how her father, now accused of kidnapping and sexual abuse, treated her. A tale of childhood innocence and the yearning for love, this drama portrays the young girl as she comes to terms with trauma – first, her separation from her father, then having to accept the bitter truth about the deviant nature of their relationship. Debut director Emmanuelle Nicot shows an uncommon sense for approaching this serious subject, evocatively presenting us with the child’s persective while giving a voice to those who are not heard. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
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Reviews (3)
The film elegantly demonstrates the distorted optics of the teenage victim and the true nature of sexual violence in a family, which is not about hurting, but rather a complex manipulation of what we consider normal. An amazing performance by Zelda Sampson.
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The feature debut of French director Emmanuelle Nicot balances on thin ice and chooses a topic that is still not talked about in public. In the hectic opening, the underage girl Dalva (Zelda Samson) is taken away from her father, with whom she has an overly intimate relationship – when she was younger, he took her away from her mother and sexually abused her. It's a thoughtful drama about the difficulty of understanding a youthful perspective, letting us interpret the action instead of including descriptive footage. Dalva enters the story looking and dressed like an adult woman and is integrated into a children's society in which her childlike qualities are again to shine through. Although the institutions have good intentions for her, it becomes clear that none of the educators can understand the complex life situation in which the immature and unhealthy girl has found herself. The first half promises a thoroughly depressing character and relationship study, which eventually gives way to a somewhat superficial climax where the author's message yields to a universal template. Nevertheless, it’s a thought-provoking portrayal of the issue, the pitfalls of which are far from ending with the arrest of the rapist, as the underage victims face a wide range of social, emotional and physical consequences.
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All it would have taken was a few unfortunate creative decisions and the film would have sunk under the weight of its controversial subject matter. But Emmanuelle Nicot handled it very well. [KVIFF 2022]
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