Bonne Etoile
2026 · 2m
Directed by Laurine Boutin
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
As the end approaches, Mika has one last wish: to look at the stars. In a world where pollution has destroyed the planet, his sister Bonnie will do everything to make his dream come true.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's a competent eco-grief fable, sure, but the premise does exactly what you'd expect it to do — dying kid wants stars, sister makes it happen, we all feel sad. There's no subversion here, no weird structural choice or tonal wrench that makes you reconsider what a 'last wish' film can be.
Boutin demonstrates formal control in this brief elegy; the two-minute constraint forces economy of gesture and a clarity of emotional lineage traceable back through Tarkovsky's contemplative silences and contemporary climate cinema. The restraint is admirable, though it moves within well-established tonal territory.
The pivot happens in whatever visual or sonic choice Boutin makes in that climactic moment when Mika actually sees the stars — whether it's a specific camera movement, a sound design decision, or the particular way she holds on a face — because that's where a small budget film either collapses into sentiment or becomes something unforgettable.