15/20
Julie is a star player 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. Julie, however, chooses to remain silent. Belgium’s official submission for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category of the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. Seen at the 2024 Ghent Film Festival. Many scenes show tennis training and related activities, but not to the point of being disturbing, even for someone (like me) who doesn’t play sports or any sport. The issues presented are contemporary, and we see many similar cases on TV and in the newspapers, from rumors to openly alleged to legally proven. What we see here too is that we never know exactly what happened, how far it went and how long it lasted, mostly due to privacy concerns for the accused and the victims. The latter is my problem with this movie. When the end credits rolled, I still didn’t know what the real problem was. Jeremy (the accused trainer) uses the word “stop” very often, repeatedly emphasizing that he stopped when Julie said he wanted to stop. So is this sexual harassment?? It is noteworthy that Julie reacted violently when she found out that Jeremy had been given a coaching position elsewhere (this “transfer” tactic is familiar within the church and in sexual abuse cases). She also asked her newly appointed trainer if she would be willing to continue working with him in the event that Jeremy was reinstated to his old job. Another unresolved issue is why Julie kept quiet and refused to participate in the interviews organized by the officials. They were obliged to do “something”. Did she not want to reveal why she kept quiet and left out of the ongoing investigation? Or is it a mix of guilt that she was late in asking Jeremy to stop? I can only guess what she was thinking. (Maybe I missed something and it was obvious to everyone else watching the same movie.) Overall, it’s interesting for tennis fans and those interested in the main “me too” theme of the movie. The mixed tennis practice scenes don’t dominate or distract from the main issues. Julie is seen in many scenes and in a variety of moods, while managing to keep us captivated by the developments of the story throughout the running time. The other young actors involved also did a good job.