Annual Top Films Lists

Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #118. Vanessa Filho’s Le Consentement

Published on January 11, 2023

Le Consentement

The filming taking place in May of last year, Vanessa Filho‘s sophomore film will leave no audience member unscathed. Based on Vanessa Springora‘s autobiographical book about being groomed and sexually abused, Le Consentement (Consent) features Jean-Paul Rouve, Kim Higelin and Laetitia Casta. This could be a drama that burns down whatever fest it preems at – and we are presuming this will follow the path of Filho’s debut film – Gueule d’ange (aka Angel Face) and hit the Croisette. Her 2018 debut with Marion Cotillard landed in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes. Filho reteams with Windy Production’s Carole Lambert and Moana Films’ Marc Missonnier.

Gist: Vanessa Springora tells how she found herself under the influence of a famous writer. In 1986, she was 13; him, almost 50. She explains how she was the victim of a triple predation: sexual, literary and psychic. But beyond her individual story, she also questions the excesses of an era, and the complacency of an environment blinded by talent and celebrity.

Release Date/Prediction: We’re tempted to say this will land just about anywhere on the Croisette – it truly depends on its potency and rawness.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).