26/36
Julie is a star at an elite tennis academy. When her coach comes under investigation and is suddenly suspended, all the players at the club are encouraged to speak out. But Julie decides to keep quiet.. Belgium’s official submission for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. I saw it at the 2024 Ghent Film Festival. Many scenes show tennis training and related subjects, but not to the point of being annoying, even for someone (like me) who doesn’t play sports, any sport. The issues shown are contemporary and we see many similar cases on TV and in the newspapers, ranging from rumors to openly alleged to legally proven. What we also see clearly here is that we never understand exactly what happened, how far it went and how long it lasted, mostly due to concerns for the privacy of the accused as well as the victims. The latter is my problem with this movie. When the final credits rolled, I still didn’t know what the real problem was. The word "stop" is used very often by Jeremy (the accused coach), repeatedly emphasizing that he stopped as soon as Julie said she wanted him to stop. Is this about sexual harassment?? Notably, Julie reacted violently when she learned that Jeremy had been offered a coaching position elsewhere (we recognize this tactic of “relocation” in church and sexual assault cases). She also asked her newly hired coach if he was willing to continue working with her in the event that Jeremy was reinstated to his old job. Another unresolved issue is why Julie is silent and refuses to participate in the conversations organized by employees who are obligated to do "something". Did she not want to reveal her reasons for remaining silent and not participating in the pending investigation?? Or is it a mixture of guilt that she was late in asking Jeremy to stop?? I can only guess what her reasoning was. (Maybe I missed something and it was clear to everyone else watching the same movie.) Overall, interesting for tennis fans and equally for others interested in the main "me too" theme of this movie. The mixed tennis practice scenes do not dominate or distract from the main issues. We see Julie in many scenes and many moods, while managing to keep us captivated by the development of the story throughout. The rest of the young actors involved also did a good job.