Film Review: THE WORST ONES (2022) DIRS. LISE AKOKA AND ROMAIN GUERET
Timéo Mahaut as Ryan in a scene from THE WORST ONES, courtesy of Kino Lorber.
A surprise winner of Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year, this film about making a film using non-professional actors has got some new angles, and more importantly, some very winning characters. The project being filmed is unpromising on a few levels, beginning with its title, Pissing Into the North Wind, and its location in one of France’s poorest working class housing projects, Cité Picasso. Also it is a low/almost no budget first film by a middle-aged director. The plot involves an unwed pregnant teenager who lives with her younger brother on account of the mother having been deemed unfit by the social workers on account of her mental instability and gross negligence, and the absence of the father.
Mallory Wanecque as Lily and Timéo Mahaut as Ryan in a scene from THE WORST ONES, courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Before the credits the film opens with painfully awkward cringe-making auditions of the local kids from the “hood”. The younger ones, in particular, seem so uncomfortable in the gaze of the camera and the probing questions of Gabriel (Johan Heldenbergh), the director, that one wonders why he does not simply thank them and let them go as they seem so completely ill-suited to working in front of a camera, learning lines and following direction. Maylis, a young girl is so distrustful and painfully self-conscious that she feels like a hostage. She has a blank affectless demeanor which she never lets go of and ultimately drops out before the shooting is completed. Ryan is an angry volatile 10 year old who seems way too complicated to deal with on a short term basis.
Mallory Wanecque as Lily in a scene from THE WORST ONES, courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Of the older kids Jessy seems quite promising. He is a good looking 20 year who is grateful for a chance to do something positive with his misguided life. Lily, a worldly, smart-talking teenager has made a lot of bad choices which have made her life uncomfortable as she has been defined by them and cannot shake them off. She has bigger dreams and the film gives her reason to hope.
The process of filming is filled with predictable difficulties under the circumstances, many of which are hilarious and sometimes harrowing given the powder keg atmosphere of this hardscrabble environment. There are more than a few times when Gabriel really seems insensitive and irresponsible in the way he directs these kids to evoke intense emotions for the camera, which frequently trigger violent behaviors which he fails to reign in instead of continuing to film. It makes him a less than sympathetic character. The reaction of the community is very mixed with some welcoming the attention, jealousy from those not chosen and resentment from those who feel that the representation of their milieu too negative and therefore detrimental to their aspirations to upward mobility.
Timéo Mahaut as Ryan and Johan Heldenbergh as Gabriel in a scene from THE WORST ONES, courtesy of Kino Lorber.
It is virtually impossible to make out much about the actual film which is really not the point. The questions which are raised are about exploitation in the process of filmmaking and post production accountability. It makes for a compelling story with some truly tender moments and some memorable performances.
Loïc Pech as Jessy and Mallory Wanecque as Lily in a scene from THE WORST ONES, courtesy of Kino Lorber.
