Departure

Synopsis

During a hot, hazy summer, Elliot – a sensitive, romantic teenager – and his mother Beatrice head to their holiday home in southern France in preparation to sell it. Much like Beatrice’s marriage, the house is falling into a state of disrepair, leaving her preoccupied and aspiring poet Elliot with plenty of time to kill. Out exploring one day, Elliot meets and becomes infatuated with Clément, a local biker boy. But as she struggles with her loneliness, Beatrice also finds herself spending time with Clément. This beautiful, tender debut captures the anguish of adolescent desire with excruciating accuracy, as well as credibly representing the complexities of marriage breakdown for the relationship between parent and child.