Facing the Beast

Théo is 14 years old and dreams of becoming a manadier, as are the cow breeders and herders of the South of France called. Learning under the supervision of Mickaël, he spends the summer on a bull farm. This film bathed in Southern light is the first co-directed film by Emma Benestan and Adrien Lecouturier, who continue to explore the territory of adolescence. Facing the Beast, the result of an encounter with Théo during an artist’s residence in a local school, draws the finespun portrait of a teenager who is as withdrawn as he is enthusiastic. On the threshold of adulthood, he is also facing his fears in the shadow of an intimidating paternal figure. With a certain mastery and at the right distance, the film swings between the world of childhood and that of adults: learning a trade, proving one’s virility, being a man—at the risk of being gored. In a beautiful sequence in dusky hues, the childish games of cat and mouse are transformed in the bullring into a harsher combat, a training session that starts to look like a rite of passage. At the end of the summer, who knows, perhaps the life-saving dodge will not be the one we thought.

Céline Guénot

• Sales contact