Désaccordés
2026 · 2m
Directed by Cécilia Assael, Quentin Ourry
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, tender
Caroline gets ready for the end-of-year ball, but that evening she decides it will not be up to others to choose who she must be.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A coming-of-age film about self-determination at a formal ball sounds like every festival darling, but Assael and Ourry seem to know what they're subverting—the question is whether they actually subvert it or just nod at the idea.
Two minutes of tender rigor, situating itself in the French tradition of the intimate portrait; the formal constraint of the evening-wear ritual becomes the stage for a quietly considered reckoning with autonomy.
The entire film turns on one choice—how Caroline moves through the space once she decides—and whether that single physical decision carries the weight of her refusal; that's where Assael and Ourry either land it or don't.