Softie (2021 film)

Last updated
Softie
Softie poster.jpg
Release poster
Directed by Samuel Theis
Written bySamuel Theis
Produced byCaroline Bonmarchand
Starring
CinematographyJacques Girault
Edited by
  • Nicolas Desmaison
  • Esther Lowe
Music byUlysse Klotz
Production
companies
Distributed byAd Vitam
Release dates
  • 9 July 2021 (2021-07-09)(Cannes)
  • 9 March 2022 (2022-03-09)(France)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$489.094 [1]

Softie (French : Petite nature) is a 2021 French coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Samuel Theis. It follows a troubled ten-year-old boy living with his mother and two siblings in Forbach, northeastern France. It premiered in the Critics' Week sidebar at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, and won the top prize at the 2021 Thessaloniki International Film Festival. [2]

Contents

Cast

Reception

Nikki Baughan of Screen International found the film reminiscent of System Crasher and wrote, "it expertly captures [the protagonist's] confusion, fear and anger as he attempts to negotiate both the hardships of life and his burgeoning sexuality." [3] Pat Brown of Slant Magazine called the film "a noteworthy repurposing of the coming-of-age social drama" that provides "a straightforward glance into the experience of navigating a queer identity", giving it two and a half out of four stars. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Haynes</span> American filmmaker

Todd Haynes is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuri Bilge Ceylan</span> Turkish film director, screenwriter, film producer and photographer (born 1959)

Nuri Bilge Ceylan is a Turkish director, screenwriter, photographer and actor. His film Winter Sleep (2014) won the Palme d'Or at the 67th Cannes Film Festival, while six of his films have been selected as Turkey's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aisling Walsh</span> Irish screenwriter and director (born 1958)

Aisling Walsh is an Irish screenwriter and director. Her work has screened at festivals around the world and she has won several accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award for Room at the Top (2012) as well as an Irish Film and Television Award and a Canadian Screen Award for her direction of Maudie (2016). She is known for her "unflinching honest portrayals of a Catholic Irish society".

The Queer Palm is an independently sponsored prize for selected LGBT-relevant films entered into the Cannes Film Festival. The award was founded in 2010 by journalist Franck Finance-Madureira. It is sponsored by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, filmmakers of Jeanne and the Perfect Guy, The Adventures of Felix, Crustacés et Coquillages, and L'Arbre et la forêt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Céline Sciamma</span> French director and screenwriter

Céline Sciamma is a French screenwriter and film director. She wrote and directed Water Lilies (2007), Tomboy (2011), Girlhood (2014), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), and Petite Maman (2021). Sciamma has won many nominations and awards for her films.

<i>Stranger by the Lake</i> 2013 film by Alain Guiraudie

Stranger by the Lake is a 2013 French thriller drama film written and directed by Alain Guiraudie. The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where Guiraudie won the award for Best Director. The film also won the Queer Palm award, and was mentioned on multiple top-ten lists of the best films of 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Cannes Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 67th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2014. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the main competition section. The Palme d'Or was awarded to the Turkish film Winter Sleep directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

<i>Blackbird</i> (2014 film) 2014 American film

Blackbird is a 2014 drama film directed by Patrik-Ian Polk and starring Mo'Nique and Isaiah Washington. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Larry Duplechan and was released theatrically on April 24, 2015.

<i>Party Girl</i> (2014 film) 2014 film

Party Girl is a 2014 French drama film written and directed by Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis. It won the Un Certain Regard Ensemble Prize and the Camera d'Or award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The story is inspired by the life of Angélique Litzenburger, who played herself in the film, it also stars the co-director Samuel Theis and his siblings Mario, Séverine and Cynthia. The title of the film is derived from the song of the same name by Michelle Gurevich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Theis</span> French film director, actor

Samuel Theis is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He was awarded the Camera d'Or prize along with Claire Burger and Marie Amachoukeli for directing the film Party Girl at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Most recently, he played Samuel Maleski in Anatomy of a Fall, which premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2023, where it won the Palme d'Or and the Palm Dog Award.

<i>Let the Sunshine In</i> (film) 2017 French film

Let the Sunshine In, or Bright Sunshine In, is a 2017 French romantic drama film directed by Claire Denis. The film is an adaptation of Roland Barthes's 1977 text A Lover's Discourse: Fragments. Novelist Christine Angot and frequent Denis collaborator Jean-Pol Fargeau have both been reported as Denis's co-writers on the project. It opened the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, it won the SACD Award.

<i>They</i> (2017 film) 2017 film

They is a 2017 American drama film directed by Anahita Ghazvinizadeh and starring Rhys Fehrenbacher. It was screened in the Special Screening section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. They was Ghazvinizadeh's first feature film.

<i>The Nothing Factory</i> 2017 film

The Nothing Factory is a 2017 Portuguese drama film directed by Pedro Pinho, whose prior works were documentaries. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and the Bright Future section at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. At Cannes it won the FIPRESCI Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lukas Dhont</span> Belgian film director and screenwriter

Lukas Dhont is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. His debut feature film, Girl, premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d'Or and the Queer Palm awards. He was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2019. His second feature film, Close, premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where he shared the Grand Prix with Claire Denis' Stars At Noon. In 2023, Close was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film representing Belgium.

<i>Joan of Arc</i> (2019 film) 2019 film

Joan of Arc is a 2019 French drama film directed by Bruno Dumont and starring Lise Leplat Prudhomme. It is the sequel to Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (2017). It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Spring Blossom</i> 2020 French drama film

Spring Blossom is a 2020 French drama film directed by Suzanne Lindon. The film stars Lindon as Suzanne, a teenage girl who is disenchanted with her peer group, and develops a relationship with Raphaël, an older actor she meets outside a theatre.

<i>Playground</i> (2021 film) 2021 film

Playground is a 2021 Belgian drama film directed by Laura Wandel. In June 2021, the film was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, it won the FIPRESCI Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.

<i>Aftersun</i> 2022 film by Charlotte Wells

Aftersun is a 2022 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Charlotte Wells in her feature directorial debut. Starring Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, and Celia Rowlson-Hall, the film follows an 11-year-old Scottish girl on holiday with her father at a Turkish resort on the eve of his 31st birthday.

<i>Creatura</i> 2023 catalan film

Creatura is a 2023 Spanish drama film directed, co-written and starred by Elena Martín Gimeno. It is shot in Catalan.

References

  1. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt12322986/?ref_=bo_se_r_1
  2. Vourlias, Christopher (14 November 2021). "Samuel Theis' 'Softie' Takes Top Prize at Thessaloniki Film Festival". Variety. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  3. Baughan, Nikki (9 July 2021). "'Softie': Cannes Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  4. Brown, Pat (9 July 2021). "Review: Softie Riskily Grapples with the Sexuality of the Young and Marginalized". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 15 June 2022.