Directed and written by Iris Kaltenbäck, Le Ravissement stars Hafsia Herzi, Alexis Manenti, and Nina Meurisse. Presented at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival's Critics' Week, this French drama was released in theaters on October 11, 2023, and will be broadcast on Arte on November 26, 2025, at 9:00 p.m.
Lydia, a midwife who is dedicated to her work, is going through a breakup that she is struggling to cope with. While she is helping her best friend Salomé through her pregnancy, she runs into Milos, whom she met a short time earlier. To preserve her image, Lydia allows a lie about a baby to develop, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.
Little by little, this lie becomes the center of her romantic and friendly relationships. The young woman finds herself caught in a spiral where her desire for recognition and motherhood conflicts with the trust of those around her, upsetting the balance of their relationships.
According to the director, the script is inspired by a news story about a young woman who passed off her friend's child as her own. Iris Kaltenbäck continues the reflection she began in her short film Le Vol des cigognes(The Flight of the Storks), which deals with thwarted motherhood and emotional pretense. The film is narrated by Milos, who provides a questioning perspective on Lydia's journey. The film received the SACD Award at Critics' Week and the French Critics' Union Award for Best First French Film. It also won the Best First Film Award at the Lumières 2024 and was nominated for a César Award in the categories of Best Actress and Best First Film.
The tone combines intimate drama and social observation. Le Ravissement is aimed at viewers who enjoy dramas centered on a character's point of view, stories that question motherhood, friendship, and the gray areas of a love story. The writing closely follows Lydia's subjectivity, in a city filmed as a space of solitude. The film may appeal to fans of family dramas and contemporary arthouse cinema.
Le Ravissement
Film| 2023
On television on Arte on November 26, 2025, at 9:00 p.m.
Drama | Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes
By Iris Kaltenbäck | Starring Hafsia Herzi, Alexis Manenti, Nina Meurisse
Nationality: France
The film portrays a woman whose life is thrown into turmoil by a lie, at the crossroads of a breakup, friendship, and the desire for motherhood.
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