Two People Exchanging Saliva

In a dystopian world, kissing is considered inappropriate and a crime that is punishable by death, people avoid brushing their teeth and consume garlic to deter intimate interest, and payment is made in the form of accepting slaps on the face in proportion to equivalent price. Malaise is a young woman newly hired to an upscale department store, and earns the interest of a wealthy housewife, Angine, to the chagrin and jealousy of her manager Pétulante, who has been Angine's usual sales associate.

Over the course of the next nine days, Malaise and Angine grow close, with Malaise successfully getting bigger purchases out of Angine as an intrigued Angine finds herself becoming attracted to the young woman and enjoying her slaps. Malaise reciprocates her feelings, secretly purchasing a toothbrush and toothpaste from the black market in order to further seduce Angine despite the danger. In the bathroom, however, Pétulante hears Malaise brushing her teeth, an activity considered highly suspicious and taboo.

A woman is arrested in the department store for desperately trying to kiss her unwilling husband, leading to her being arrested and executed by being bound, gagged, and thrown off a cliff in a cardboard box. Angine is aware of the danger, as her husband is a designer for these boxes, but after discovering prints of artwork depicting kissing in the woman's purse, she is unable to ignore her feelings any longer.

The next day, Angine cleans her teeth and hurries to the store to meet Malaise, determined to kiss her in private. However, she discovers that Pétulante had falsely claimed Malaise had attacked her and tried to kiss her, handing over her toothbrush and toothpaste to police to confirm the story. Devastated, Angine travels to the ravine full of executed victims and discovers Malaise's body, weeping over it.

A final flashback reveals that during Malaise's solitary birthday at her apartment, which had taken place days earlier, Malaise had wished for Angine to appear and join her, but despite a knock at the door, she had had no visitors; however, Angine had arrived, but lost her courage and hid, forfeiting what would end up being her only opportunity to connect with Malaise.

• Zar Amir Ebrahimi as Angine
• Luàna Bajrami as Malaise
• Aurélie Boquien as Pétulante
• Vicky Krieps as the Narrator
• Nicolas Bouchaud as Chagrin
• Mitchell Jean as Jérémiade
• Mustapha Abourachid as Arnaque
• Thibaut De Lussy as Tuyaux
• Lucile Jaillant as Carie

Two People Exchanging Saliva premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado on August 30, 2024.^[3][4] The film’s Los Angeles premiere was at the AFI Fest “After Dark” shorts program on October 25, 2024.^[5]

It was screened as part of the Through the Looking Glass shorts program at the 2025 Seattle International Film Festival on May 17, 2025.^[6] It was also screened as part of the Official Selection of The Downtown Festival on October 15, 2025 in a shorts program that included films by Riley Lynch and Saodat Ismailova.^[7] The film had its world premiere on November 21, 2025, via The New Yorker.^[8] In January 2026, Julianne Moore and Isabelle Huppert joined as executive producers of the film.^[9]

• Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
• 98th Academy Awards