Garance Shines at Cannes, Exarchopolous Leads
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- Garance (directed by Jeanne Herry) competes at Cannes this year, starring Adèle Exarchopolous as a young woman battling alcoholism.
- Adèle Exarchopolous delivers a standout performance that eclipses the film’s meandering plot, earning the limelight in a modern take on John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence.
- Joachim is Garance’s former lover, whose casual lifestyle and pregnancy revelation illustrate her early “mediocrity” and set the tone for her self‑destructive spiral.
- Joris leads the theater troupe that fires Garance after a drunken slip, triggering an intervention and a panic attack that deepens her addiction.
- Pauline (played by Sara Giraudeau) becomes Garance’s lover and offers a tentative path to recovery, highlighting the film’s LGBTQ+ subplot amid Cannes’ focus on diverse, female‑fronted stories.
Why it matters: Adèle Exarchopolous’s breakout at Cannes boosts her marketability, while the festival’s showcase of female‑led, diverse stories pressures studios to green‑light more gender‑balanced projects and signals a shift toward inclusive programming.
