Rendez-vous Romantique
2026 · 2m
Directed by Nola Blossom Baril
Genres: drama, romance, sci-fi
Tones: contemplative, tender
In a near future where the world is at war, Henriette goes on a first romantic date with Georges, a tall agnostic stranger she has never met.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Romance-in-wartime is the oldest trick in the book, and Baril plays it straight—which means she's either confident enough to disappoint me or too safe to surprise anyone. I'm betting on the latter.
A tender restraint that recalls the intimacy-against-chaos lineage of Rohmer and late Koreeda; the two-minute duration feels deliberate, almost classical in its refusal to overstay the moment.
That two-minute constraint forces every gesture to count—Baril's choice to hold the mundane details of a first date (the nervousness, the small talk) against the background noise of global collapse is what makes the tenderness feel earned rather than sentimental.