Directed by:
François OzonScreenplay:
François OzonCinematography:
Manuel DacosseCast:
Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud, Josiane Balasko, Eric Caravaca, Jules Gauzelin, Aurélia Petit, François Chattot, Amélie Daure (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Alexandre lives with his wife and children in Lyon. One day he discovers by chance that the priest who abused him when he was a boy scout is still working with young people. Long repressed memories awaken. Distraught, Alexandre finally finds the courage to take action against the man. His search for further victims of the clergyman, who is highly respected in his office, leads Alexandre to François and Emmanuel. Each of these three men is struggling with himself in a different way. And each of them will have to do battle with the shadows of their past in order to cope with the far-reaching consequences of this process. The creation of the self-help organisation ‘La Parole Libérée’ (The Liberated Word) is just the first step. Based on the real case of Father Bernard Preynat who in 2016 was charged with sexually assaulting around 70 boys in Lyon, François Ozon portrays the victims as adult men and reveals the lifelong wounds they have sustained. At the same time, the film criticises the church’s silence on paedophilia and asks about its complicity. As of January 2019, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin is standing trial for ‘non-denunciation of sexual aggression’. (Berlinale)
(more)Cast
Melvil Poupaud
France
Best movies:
Laurence Anyways (2012)
An Officer and a Spy (2019)
A Summer's Tale (1996)
Denis Ménochet
France
Best movies:
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
La Vie en rose (2007)
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989) (series)
Swann Arlaud
France
Best movies:
Les Hirondelles de Kaboul (2019)
Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
The Round Up (2010)
Josiane Balasko
France
Best movies:
Animal (1977)
The Tenant (1976)
The Hedgehog (2009)
Eric Caravaca
France
Best movies:
Nobody from Nowhere (2014)
Monsieur Ibrahim (2003)
Chicken with Plums (2011)
Jules Gauzelin
Best movies:
Celle que vous croyez (2019)
A Childhood (2015)
By the Grace of God (2018)
Aurélia Petit
Best movies:
La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000)
The Science of Sleep (2006)
The Devils (2002)
François Chattot
Best movies:
Voleur de vie (1998)
13th District (2004)
Journey To Greenland (2016)
Amélie Daure
Best movies:
By the Grace of God (2018)
Frontier(s) (2007)
François Marthouret
France
Best movies:
The Confession (1970)
L'Affaire Dreyfus (1994) (series)
The Octopus (1984) (series)
Frédéric Pierrot
France
Best movies:
I've Loved You So Long (2008)
Land and Freedom (1995)
Sarah's Key (2010)
Jeanne Rosa
Best movies:
By the Grace of God (2018)
The Midwife (2017)
French Blood (2015)
Bernard Verley
France
Best movies:
The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
Le Rouge et le noir (1997) (TV movie)
Love in the Afternoon (1972)
Hélène Vincent
France
Best movies:
Three Colors: Blue (1993)
The Count of Monte Cristo (1998) (series)
My Life in Pink (1997)
Zéli Marbot
Best movies:
By the Grace of God (2018)
Serge Flamenbaum
Best movies:
Guilty (2011)
Courted (2015)
By the Grace of God (2018)
Sébastien Lozach
Best movies:
Frau Ella (2013)
BPM (Beats Per Minute) (2017)
Sink or Swim (2018)
Pauline Ziade
Best movies:
By the Grace of God (2018)
The Tower (2018)
Mince alors ! (2012)
Sébastien Pouderoux
Best movies:
Les Hirondelles de Kaboul (2019)
The Vortex of Life (2022)
Boîte noire (2021)
Robert Michael
Best movies:
By the Grace of God (2018)
Grease: Live (2016) (TV movie)
The Love Witch (2016)