Milla

In her first feature, Nana (2011), Valérie Massadian presented a moving blend of fiction and documentary, erasing the distance between the title character and her part, mining poetry from elliptic situations. Milla applies that technique to two teenage misfits, Milla and Leo, who find shelter in a little town by the Channel. They are in love, live in abandoned houses. That’s all we need to know. 
The film is based on the experience of Séverine Jonckeere (Milla), who makes an impressive debut as a tough, tender and vulnerable wildcat. Massadian relies more on observing everyday life than on character arcs, filling the film with silence and intimacy. At the same time, the acting and careful cinematography result in poetry and magic. One scene embodies this beautiful approach: our couple sleeps in the back of a car and the frost on the windowpane turns into an eerie veil, saying much about the director’s lyrical empathy.

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