Julie Keeps Quiet
As the star player at an elite youth tennis academy, Julie’s life revolves around the game she loves. She trains hard, pausing only for class or physical therapy before returning to the gym fixated on making it into the Belgian Tennis Federation. When her coach Jérémy is suddenly suspended following the suicide of one of his female protégées, all the players at the academy are encouraged to speak up about their experiences with him. Julie, however, decides to keep quiet. Despite strong suspicions from those around her that Julie’s relationship with Jérémy was inappropriate at best, her persistent silence begins to speak volumes. Confused and full of anxiety, the pressure she once channeled solely towards training shifts inward, affecting her confidence, her focus, and her game. Executive produced by tennis champion Naomi Osaka, JULIE KEEPS QUIET is a "tense, taut, artfully hushed debut feature" (Variety) by Belgian writer-director Leonardo van Dijl. Led by newcomer Tessa Van den Broeck whose performance embodies the different ways trauma is internalized, JULIE KEEPS QUIET respectfully and empathetically examines why some victims choose to remain silent.
Cast
- Tessa Van den Broeck
- Ruth Becquart
- Koen De Bouw
- Claire Bodson
- Laurent Caron
- "Standout of Critics Week 2024. A confident debut... tautly controlled in its treatment of a current hot-button theme."
- "[A] tense, absorbing movie of silences and absences... a gripping study in dysfunction and repression."
- "Riveting Debut From Belgium - The movie’s silence is so loaded with the anxiety, obstinance, inchoate anger and desire for anonymity of the traumatized teenage sportswoman that the constant thwack of her racquet hitting the ball cuts through the tension like violent shocks. Unfolding predominantly in static frames that keep the story laser-focused, with pinpoint use of American contemporary classical composer Caroline Shaw’s needling vocal score, this is an austerely effective work."
- "Julie Keeps Quiet explores the questions of abuse, domination and control with accuracy and genuine cinematographic intelligence... but it’s also significant in and of itself for its sharp screenplay, the quality of its artistic direction and, last but not least, the impressive performance of Tessa Van den Broeck, a young tennis player in her first on-screen role."
- "[A] taut, haunting character study whose patient rhythms effectively breeds inescapable tension."
- "A standout of this year’s Critics’ Week programme at Cannes... “Julie Keeps Quiet” should travel far on the strength of its coolly riveting execution and subject matter that remains broadly resonant amid an ongoing #MeToo reckoning. Van den Broeck’s remarkable performance never wavers in either its physical poise or its clarity of expression...."
- "Julie Keeps Quiet expertly addresses the minefield of dangers inherent in unbalanced power relationships. Gripping and undeniable, Julie Keeps Quiet stares down the line and serves a gut-punching ace."
- "Julie Keeps Quiet shines an essential light on youth sports and the abuse that goes on in them led by an open, generous performance by Van den Broeck."
Gallery
Awards & Recognition
SACD Award - Critics' Week
Cannes Film Festival
Prix Fondation GAN - Critics' Week
Cannes Film Festival
Critics' Week Grand Prize
Cannes Film Festival
Bright Horizons Award
Melbourne Int'l. Film Festival
Karlovy Vary Int'l. Film Festival
Toronto Int'l. Film Festival
Busan Int'l. Film Festival
Hamptons Int'l. Film Festival
BFI London Film Festival
Vancouver Int'l. Film Festival
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