Jessica Forever

A blonde-haired boy crashes through the glazed wall of a suburban house and falls to the floor, unconscious. A militia of young men carries him away. They are led by a young woman, a blue-eyed, futuristic Jeanne d’Arc. They exit just as a swarm of threatening drones invades the room. A voice-over informs us that the state has deemed these boys to be violent orphans and social outcasts and the authorities are now hunting them down. What follows is a quiet but emotional story of brotherhood, angst, mutual protection, violent impulses and infinite tenderness amongst a band of hyper-masculine warriors living under the protective wing of the caring Jessica. True to the themes of their short films, and featuring the young tribe that populates their previous works, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel’s first feature combines a minimalistic plot, fantasy elements and hyper-realistic cinematography to create a lifelike version of a video game environment, in which alienation and isolation can only be conquered by affection. Friends forever. Love forever. (Berlinale)