VELVET CLUB
2026 · 2m
Directed by Mathilde Roy
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, sensual
On his first night as a bouncer at a strip club, an altercation forces David inside the bar, where an unexpected fascination awakens a passion he would never have imagined.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Strip club coming-of-age feels like it's been mined to death, but Roy's 2-minute window — trapping the protagonist inside rather than outside — at least subverts the voyeur angle into something more vertiginous; whether that gamble pays off or just shuffles the furniture remains to be seen.
A formally composed meditation on desire and self-discovery that positions itself in the lineage of European character cinema; the sensual palette and contemplative pacing suggest a director thinking carefully about where the camera belongs and what it's permitted to witness.
What elevates this is likely the decision to compress the entire awakening into that first-night threshold — the moment David crosses from bouncer to participant — which asks the whole film to hinge on a single behavioral shift; if Roy nails that pivot in the editing or performance, 2 minutes becomes enough.