10/39
Julie is a star player at an elite tennis academy. When her coach is investigated and suddenly suspended, all the players at the club are encouraged to speak out. But Julie chooses to remain silent. Belgium’s official entry for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. I saw theirs at the Ghent Film Festival 2024. Many scenes show tennis training and related things, but not to the point of being annoying, not even for someone (like me) who doesn’t play any sport at all. The issues presented are contemporary and we see many similar cases on television and in the newspapers, ranging from rumors to open and legally proven assumptions. What we also see clearly here is that we never know exactly what happened, to what extent it happened and how long it lasted, mainly due to concerns about the privacy of the accused and the victims. The latter is my problem with this film. By the time the end credits rolled, I still didn’t know what the real problem was. Jeremy (the accused coach) uses the word “stop” quite frequently, repeatedly emphasizing that he stopped as soon as Julie said she wanted him to. Is this a case of sexual harassment, then? It is notable that Julie reacted strongly when she found out that Jeremy had taken a coaching position at a different location (we recognize this “displacement” tactic within the church and sexual abuse cases). She also asked her newly appointed coach if he would be willing to continue working with her if Jeremy were reinstated at his old job. Another unresolved question is why Julie remained silent and refused to participate in the dialogue sessions organized by the employees, who are required to do “something.” Did he not want to reveal his reasons for keeping quiet and staying out of the pending investigation? Or is it a mix of guilt for having delayed asking Jeremy to stop? I can only guess at what his considerations were. (Perhaps I missed something and it was clear to everyone who watched the same film.) Overall, it is interesting for tennis lovers and also for those interested in the main “me too” theme of this film. The interspersed tennis training scenes neither overpower nor distract from the main themes. We see Julie in many scenes and in various states of mind, while she manages to keep us fascinated as the story unfolds throughout the film. The other young actors involved also do a good job.