29/43
Julie is a star player at the top tennis academy. When his coach comes under investigation and is suddenly suspended, all the players at the club are encouraged to speak out. But Julie chooses to keep quiet. Belgium’s Official Search for 'Best International Feature Film' In the 97th Oscar category in 2025. I saw him at the 2024 Ghent Film Festival. Many scenes show tennis practice and related, but not to the point of being annoying, not even for someone (like me) who doesn’t play sports or any sports at all. The issues presented are contemporary and we see many similar cases on television and in newspapers, ranging from rumors to openly alleged and legally proven cases. We also clearly see that we will never know what exactly happened, how far it went and how long it lasted, mainly because of the privacy of the accused and the victims. The latter is my problem with this movie. When the credits rolled, I still didn’t know what the real problem was. The word "stop" Jeremy (the accused trainer) uses it very often, repeatedly emphasizing that he stopped as soon as Julie said she wanted him to stop. So is it sexual harassment?? Notably, Julie reacts violently when she learns that Jeremy got a trainer’s position in a different community (we recognize this “transfer” tactic in the church and sexual abuse cases). He also asked his newly appointed trainer if he would be willing to continue working with him in the event that Jeremy was reinstated. Another unresolved topic is why Julie remained silent and refused to participate in the debriefings organized by the officials. are obliged to do “something”. Did he not want to reveal the reasons why he remained silent and stayed away from the pending investigation?? Or is it a mixture of guilt that she was late asking Jeremy to stop?? I can only guess what he was thinking. (Maybe I missed something and was it obvious to everyone else watching the same movie.) All in all, interesting for tennis fans and equally for others interested in the main "me too" theme of this movie. Miscellaneous tennis practice scenes are not dominant and neither do they distract from the main points. We see Julie in many scenes and in many moods, but manage to keep us intrigued by the development of the story throughout the show. The other young actors involved also did a good job.