

In 1940s France, a new teacher at a school for disruptive boys gives hope and inspiration.
Acting
Gérard Jugnot's quietly devastating performance as the failed dreamer.
Score
The Saint-Maurice choir will wreck you. Those boy soprano notes!
Cinematography
Golden-hour French countryside that makes suffering look almost beautiful.

Director
Christophe Barratier
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film draws heavily from the 1945 French film 'La Cage aux Rossignols,' which director Barratier discovered as a child. The 1940s setting deliberately evokes Vichy France, adding political weight to the authoritarian boarding school.
Jean-Baptiste Maunier was cast as Pierre after the director spotted him in a school choir video. He had zero acting experience, which explains why his awkwardness reads as authentic adolescent longing.