Shrimp
2014 · 17m · France
Directed by Sophie Galibert
Genres: comedy, coming-of-age, family
Tones: humorous, tender, whimsical
Ten-year-old Paul is on holiday in the countryside with his big brother and wants to ask Wendy to dance at the village ball — but he's too shy, and his brother isn't helping.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's a charming coming-of-age story about a shy kid wanting to ask a girl to dance—exactly the kind of premise that makes most people nod politely and move on. Galibert finds something genuinely weird in the brother dynamic and the rhythms of rural awkwardness that keeps it from ever feeling like a greeting card.
A film that understands the lineage of Truffaut and early Varda—the child's-eye view of adult social rituals, the tender observation of small-town ceremony—executed with the formal restraint and unhurried pacing that allows comedy and pathos to coexist without announcing themselves.
The genius move here is the brother: rather than the usual supportive-sidekick role, he's a human obstacle, indifferent and absorbed in his own teenage world, which makes Paul's shyness feel genuinely consequential instead of cute—that single relationship choice transforms a familiar story into something with real stakes.