Leon arrives in Eva's life one morning, on the terrace of a café. The little boy settles down, asks for hot chocolate. The young woman, 35, without children, takes her home, calls social services and learns that Leon has run away from home. Eva has to bring him back but eventually delays the deadline. She who leads an idle existence, sheltered from need, attaches herself to the little boy. Called to order by the authorities, she ignores and tells Leon that they are now on the run. Together, they go to Italy in search of the mother of the little boy ...
Acting
Clotilde Hesme's fragile confidence, Florian Lemaire's devastating stillness.
Direction
Cherpitel's refusal to judge her deeply flawed protagonist.
Director
Emilie Cherpitel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Keziah Jones, who plays Eva's musician friend, is a real-life Nigerian-British funk musician — his casting adds accidental authenticity to the film's drifting, artistic milieu.
The title's ampersand is doing heavy lifting: Eva & Léon never becomes 'Eva and Léon' because their bond exists in that liminal, unofficial space the film refuses to legitimize.
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