Two siblings, one secret, zero adults paying attention — childhood as slow-motion horror.
To make her meeting with her lover Bernard, Françoise needs Julien's help. Julien is 11, Françoise, 14. They're brother and sister.
Direction
Achard builds horror from glances and silences, nothing explicit.
Acting
The children's performances feel stolen from real life, devastating.
Cinematography
Cramped framing makes every room feel like a trap.
Director
Laurent Achard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Achard adapted this from his own short story, part of a triptych about childhood cruelty that critics called 'French miserabilism at its most surgical.'
The title refers to a French expression about smelling something off — literally 'a smell of geranium' means sensing hidden decay.
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