Filles de joie (2020)

Directed by: Frédéric Fonteyne, Anne Paulicevich | 90 minutes | drama | Actors: Sara Forestier, Noémie Lvovsky, Annabelle Lengronne, Nicolas Cazalé, Jonas Bloquet, Sergi López, Salomé Dewaels, Jérémie Petrus

In ‘Filles de joie’ we follow three women who cross the Belgian border together every day to work secretly as prostitutes in France. They have little in common except for the common work until an event occurs that will connect the women forever. These “girls of pleasure” don’t always get along, but meet one of them and you’ll know. They refuse to be victims and take matters into their own hands when necessary, sometimes with dire consequences.

It is night, the rain is pouring down from the sky and three figures bury a body wrapped in garbage bags. The tone is set. The rest of the movie will have you wondering with every male character who was the one buried in the first scene. Is it the aggressive ex, the bawdy teenage boy or
the adulterous client?

After this crucial opening scene, we meet Axelle, a young mother in a far too small apartment, where she has to support not only her children but also her own mother. It’s chaotic and in the background one of her sons yells ‘I want to kill! I want to kill!’. Axelle wants nothing more to do with her aggressive ex, the father of the children, and tries to keep her head above water as best she can. A little later we also meet Dominique and Conso, with whom Axelle drives daily to the house where they work together as a prostitute. They are all three completely different women, from different backgrounds, but they have one thing in common and that is the double life they lead.

The three main characters are a real joy to watch. Whatever they do, as a viewer you are unconditionally on their side. Thanks to the natural acting performances of Sara Forestier, Annabelle Lengronne and Noémie Lvovsky, we see three magnificent women who balance between the boldness of an adult woman and the vulnerable of a young girl.

They have to deal with sexism, dominant men, annoying clients and mutual irritations, but in the end female solidarity wins out. You could make a movie about all three characters separately. For example about the beautiful but lonely Conso, who screams the loudest, but is secretly looking for love and confirmation in whatever form. Or the older Dominique – also known as Mama – who supports her family but receives little appreciation in return. She stars in a particularly intimate scene where she takes a bath with an older man who is looking for affection despite his age. In short, the characters are well developed and a story in itself. The non-chronological story perspective, which takes turns highlighting the sides of all three women, is somewhat confusing at first, but eventually becomes a clear whole again.

‘Filles de joie’ is a convincing social-realistic portrait in which you unexpectedly dive into the lives of a number of people and just as abruptly fly out. You don’t need an intro, you’re suddenly part of it. In that sense, this relatively short film could have been longer, so that you can properly say goodbye to three resilient women that you soon become attached to. On the other hand, it’s a great achievement by directors Frédéric Fonteyne and Anne Paulicevich that it feels like a random day in the lives of three heroic women.