Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2022: #99. Héloïse Pelloquet’s La Passagère

La Passagère

For almost a decade now Héloïse Pelloquet has cut her teeth as an editor — mostly in the narrative short film format with her most notable recent entry being the memorizing Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Qu’importe si les bêtes meurent by Sofia Alaoui. She also added some noteworthy features to her mix with Romain Laguna’s Meteorites (2018) and Axelle Ropert’s Petite Solange (read review). With a trio of short films (the seaside is always present) under her belt (two of three competed and won at Clermont-Ferrand), the La Fémis grad began production on La Passagère in April of 2021. Cécile de France toplines the relationship-breaking drama with Summer of 85‘s Félix Lefebvre disrupting status quo and changing the temperature of the port — filming took place in the Pays de la Loire region (near Nantes). Produced by prolific international film producer Pascal Caucheteux (read our profile), Pelloquet co-wrote (and reteams) with Rémi Brachet, and Augustin Barbaroux was enlisted here as the cinematographer. The project had received coin from the CNC.

Gist: This revolves around a couple of fishermen (Cécile de France, Grégoire Monsaingeon) who are joined on their island by a new apprentice in the middle of a raging storm.

Release Date/Prediction: Well into post production this would be ready in time for a possible berth at Critics’ Week in Cannes. A second option could be Locarno – where Petite Solange premiered.