

Paris, 1977. Eleven year old Stella knows poker better than grammar when she starts the year at a prestigious new school. There, she discovers the possibilities of a whole new world outside her parents' bar.
Acting
Léora Barbara's Stella — all watchful silence and burning intelligence.
Direction
Verheyde captures 1977 Paris with unromantic precision.
Writing
Dialogue that lets kids be sharp, cruel, and heartbreaking.

Director
Sylvie Verheyde
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Guillaume Depardieu died just months after filming; this was among his final roles. His damaged gravitas as Alain Bernard haunts the film.
The film quietly documents France's post-1968 disappointed generation — the parents' radical dreams reduced to bar ownership and quiet resentment.