Cannes Discovery La Gradiva Sends a French Class to Pompeii

One of the best-reviewed films of the year is a debut. Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva, winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes, opens in France on October 21 and arrives in US theaters on December 18.

Atlan co-wrote the film with Anne Brouillet, borrowing its title from Wilhelm Jensen’s 1903 novella Gradiva, which Sigmund Freud famously dissected in an essay.

The story

A class of French high schoolers takes a week-long trip to Pompeii just before graduation. Between the ruins and the museum visits, the real drama is personal: Toni goes looking for his grandmother’s Italian relatives while keeping a relationship secret, Suzanne wrestles with her insecurities, and their teacher Madame Mercier struggles to keep the group together.

The cast

Most of the young performers are newcomers:

• Colas Quignard as Toni;
• Suzanne Gerin as Suzanne;
• Mitia Capellier-Audat as James;
• Hadya Fofana as Angela;
• Antonia Buresi as Madame Mercier;
• Emmanuelle Lafon as Madame Paquin.

The production

The shoot ran from April 7 to May 21, 2025, around Naples, including the National Archaeological Museum, Torre del Greco and the Pompeii site, with train scenes added in Clermont-Ferrand that fall. Atlan shared camera duties with Pierre Mazoyer, and Guillaume Lillo edited a four-hour first cut down to 145 minutes.

The reviews

Critics have been rapturous. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw gave it five stars, IndieWire’s Marya E. Gates an A, and Screen Daily’s Amber Wilkinson praised its refusal of coming-of-age clichés. The film sits at 98 on Metacritic and 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it also played Toronto and the New York Film Festival.

Release

La Gradiva opens in France on October 21 and in the US on December 18.