Teen Marion desperately tries to keep her family in one piece, in the Walloon apartment she shares with her two sisters and her single mother Alice. However, loving their mutual jokes and nicknames may be, mum leans heavily on her ‘ugly ducklings’. She encourages the youngest to play truant, has the eldest sort out her medication and, after a nervous breakdown, her daughters are left to their own devices.
Christophe Hermans’s feature film debut La ruche managed to attract Ludivine Sagnier (Femmes, Swimming Pool) for the role of the mother, slowly succumbing to a bipolar episode. Forthright, emotionally convincing acting reveals how she drags her daughters down with her – the youngest played by Sagnier’s own daughter. The symbiotic, yet toxic relationship between mother and daughters is impressively depicted by camerawoman Lara Gasparotto, with more than a nod to the work of the Dardenne brothers.
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Not available on Festival Scope Pro
Film details
Country of production
Belgium
Year
2021
Festival edition
P&I Selection 2022
Length
81'
Medium/Format
DCP
Language
French
Premiere status
None
Director
Christophe Hermans
Producer
Cassandre Warnauts, Jean-Yves Roubin
Screenplay
Noëmie Nicolas, Christophe Hermans
Cinematography
Colin Lévêque
Editing
Anne-Laure Guégan, Joël Mann
Production design
Damien Rondeau
Sound design
Pierre Mertens
Principal cast
Ludivine Sagnier, Sophie Breyer, Mara Taquin, Bonnie Duvauchelle, Tom Vermeir, Romain Guillermic, Vincent Overath