Nominated for the Golden Camera at the Cannes Film Festival where it was previewed, Julie is silentthe very strong first feature film by Belgian director Leonardo Van Dijl is released in theaters on Wednesday January 29.
Julie, 15, a promising tennis player, has been trained by Jeremy since a young age when she learns that the latter was suspended after the suicide of a young girl formerly a member of the club. Jeremy is removed from training so that the internal investigation within the club can take place without putting pressure on the young people. The latter are invited to speak, but Julie, still in contact with Jeremy who continues to call her and send her messages, remains silent.
Chosen by Belgium to represent the country at the 2025 Oscars in the best international film category, Julie is silent addresses the issue of sexual violence and abuse in the sporting world, an environment particularly conducive to these crimes. The plot takes place in Belgium, but could just as easily have been imagined in France, where speech has been freed in the world of sport since the revelations in 2020 of the skater Sarah Abitbol.
The subject is treated here without voyeurism. More than the details of the abuse or violence, never shown, never described, the film seeks to dissect the mechanisms of the control exercised by an adult over vulnerable children. In the demanding and difficult journey of these young athletes, which requires discipline and sacrifice, the coach, very close to the children from a very young age, occupies a privileged position.
Jeremy makes Julie believe that he alone holds the keys to her success. Like a good predator, he isolated her from her peers, from her family, and he rules over her life. Julie, like victims often, cannot get rid of this influence overnight, especially since Jeremy continues to maintain contact with her. It was while working with another trainer, in the same place doing the same job as Jeremy, that Julie gradually understood through contrast the extent to which her trainer had taken power over her life.
The athlete also discovers her ability to progress with the help of an adult with appropriate behavior. She finds a smile again by sharing moments with her classmates, with her family, with her little dog. Despite this awareness, which we feel emerging throughout the story, and despite the outstretched hands of her friends, her family, or even the club director to help her speak, Julie continues to remain silent.
Fear, shame, sadness or an act of resistance? What is stopping Julie from denouncing her attacker? The film does not give ready-made answers, but shows in a very sober staging, centered on Julie, magnificently played by the young actress Tessa Van den Broeck, her inner journey.
“In a world that pushes her to speak, she remains silent, which leads those around her to really listen to her.”
-Leonardo Van Dyldirector
The camera examines the young girl, her solitude, her interactions with those around her or with the attacker, then her return to life, her joy rediscovered when Jeremy is removed. Julie finds within herself the resources to regain control of her life. It is this almost impalpable reality which is captured, and which is shown to the spectator.
If she doesn’t speak, Julie doesn’t collapse. Straight in her boots, she confronts her attacker directly, without the intermediary of adults, showing remarkable courage and maturity. The words will come eventually, later. Words that we will not hear, that Julie reserves for justice to put her attacker out of harm’s way.
Shot in 35 mm, a textured image, beautiful work on sound and a production without artifice, Leonardo Van Dijl’s first feature film addresses this complex subject with extreme modesty, which highlights the victim, his courage and his dignity, putting the aggressor in the shadows, off-screen, shame on his side.
Genre : Drama
Director: Leonardo Van Dyl
Actresses, actors: Tessa Van den Broeck, Ruth Becquart, Koen De Bouw
Duration : 1h37
Sortie : January 29, 2025
Distributer : Day2party
Synopsis : Julie, a rising tennis star playing in a prestigious club, devotes her entire life to her sport. When the coach who could propel her to the top is suddenly suspended and an investigation is launched, all the players at the club are encouraged to share their story. But Julie decides to remain silent.
