''Softie'' (french: Petite nature) is a 2021 French coming-of-age drama film written and directed by

Samuel Theis Samuel Theis (; born 12 November 1978) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He was awarded the Camera d'Or prize along with Claire Burger and Marie Amachoukeli for directing the film ''Party Girl'' at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival ...

. It follows a troubled ten-year-old boy living with his mother and two siblings in

Forbach Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) is a commune in the French department of Moselle, northeastern French region of Grand Est. It is located on the German border approximately 15 minutes from the center of Saarbrücken, Germany, with which it const ...

, northeastern France. It premiered in the

Critics' Week Critics' Week (french: link=no, Semaine de la critique), until 2008 called International Critics' Week ('), is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created in 1962 after the Fre ...

sidebar at the

2021 Cannes Film Festival The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American director Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after t ...

, and won the top prize at the 2021

Thessaloniki International Film Festival The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), organized by the cultural institution of the same name under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture, is held every November in Thessaloniki.TIFF features international competition secti ...

Cast

* Aliocha Reinert as Johnny * Antoine Reinartz as Adamski * Mélissa Olexa as Sonia *

Izïa Higelin Izïa Higelin (born 24 September 1990), more commonly known by her stage name Izia, is a French rock singer, guitarist and actress. Her most recent album, ''La Vitesse'', was released in 2022. Early life Izïa was born in Paris on 24 September ...

as Nora * Jade Schwartz as Mélissa * Ilario Gallo as Dylan * Abdel Benchendikh as Ylies * Romande Esch as Dylan's girlfriend * Mérésia Litzenburger as Mérésia * Danielle Dalhem as school principal * Maïa Quesmand as Camille *

Claire Burger Claire Burger is a French film director, film editor and screenwriter. She received the Camera d'Or award for her debut feature film ''Party Girl'' at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival The 67th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 201 ...

as Claire

Reception

Nikki Baughan of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' found the film reminiscent of ''

System Crasher ''System Crasher'' (german: Systemsprenger) is a 2019 German drama film directed by Nora Fingscheidt. Plot The nine-year-old Bernadette, known as “Benni”, is considered aggressive and wayward. If anyone but her mother touches her face, she l ...

'' and wrote, "it expertly captures

he protagonist's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

confusion, fear and anger as he attempts to negotiate both the hardships of life and his burgeoning sexuality." Pat Brown of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' called the film "a noteworthy repurposing of the coming-of-age social drama" that provides "a straightforward glance into the experience of navigating a queer identity", giving it two and a half out of four stars.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 2021 films 2021 drama films 2021 LGBT-related films 2020s coming-of-age drama films French coming-of-age drama films French LGBT-related films 2020s French-language films Films set in France Films shot in France 2020s French films Ad Vitam (company) films