The Worst Ones
2022 French film
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The Worst Ones (French: Les Pires) is a 2022 French drama film directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret. The film premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Un Certain Regard Award.
Romane Gueret
Romane Gueret
Elénore Gurrey
Frédéric Jouve
| The Worst Ones | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| French | Les Pires |
| Directed by | Lise Akoka Romane Gueret |
| Screenplay by | Lise Akoka Romane Gueret Elénore Gurrey |
| Produced by | Marine Alaric Frédéric Jouve |
| Cinematography | Eric Dumont |
| Edited by | Albertine Lastera |
| Music by | Sebastien Pan |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Pyramide Distribution |
Release dates |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $308,170[1] |
Premise
The film tells behind the scenes of a shoot in the North of France. A film director chooses to shoot in the Picasso city, in Boulogne-sur-Mer. He sends out a casting, looking for atypical personalities: young school dropouts, ADHD sufferers, foster children, young people leaving home... He chooses two girls and two boys, Lily, Maylis, Jessy and Ryan. Everyone is surprised by this choice: why did he only take “the worst”? Local associations are worried about the impossible hopes represented by the easy life of a film crew, and the filmmaker is worried about reinforcing the stereotypes he wanted to denounce.
The film portrays its heroes. Raised by his sister, Ryan has attention disorders and hyperactivity and cannot stand the school environment despite the help of his life assistant. Lily goes from one guy to another, and we discover that she is weakened by the death of her brother, who died of cancer. Maylis, very little expansive, wonders about her participation in the shooting. Jessy, finally, plays the provocateur but he hides flaws too.
Cast
- Mallory Wanecque as Lily
- Timéo Mahaut as Ryan
- Johan Heldenbergh as Gabriel
- Loïc Pech as Jessy
- Mélina Vanderplancke as Maylis
- Esther Archambault as Judith
- Matthias Jacquin as Victor
- Angélique Gernez as Mélodie
- Dominique Frot as Ryan's grandmother
- Rémy
Production
Akoka and Gueret had previously made a short film, Chasse Royale, dealing with the practice of film casting. After that, they decided to create a story about film production.[2]
Release
The Worst Ones premiered 22 May at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Un Certain Regard Award.[3] It was theatrically released in France on 7 December 2022 by Pyramide Distribution.[4]
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10.[5] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award / Festival | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Cannes Film Festival | Un Certain Regard Award | Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret | Won | [3] |
| Sarlat Film Festival | Best Actress | Mallory Wanecque | Won | [7] | |
| Festival des Avant-premières de Cosne sur Loire | Won | [8] | |||
| Rome Film Festival | Do-Cine Rising Star Award for Best International Young Actor | Won | [9] | ||
| 2023 | Paris Film Critics Awards | Best First Film | Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret | Nominated | [10] |
| Best Female Revelation | Mallory Wanecque | Nominated | |||
| César Awards | Best First Feature Film | Marine Alaric, Frédéric Jouve, Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret | Nominated | [11] | |
| Most Promising Actress | Mallory Wanecque | Nominated | |||
| Cabourg Film Festival | Prix Premier Rendez-Vous | Won | [12] | ||
