Overview
- The French coming-of-age drama begins its U.S. theatrical rollout as Neon expands the film after a Cannes 2025 debut.
- Set in a 1990s-like past, the story tracks a 13-year-old and her nurse mother during a fatal blood-borne outbreak that hardens skin into a marble-like shell.
- Recent interviews stress themes of trauma, empathy, and reparations linked to AIDS history, with Ducournau saying she aims to keep the characters’ humanity at the center.
- The Los Angeles Times calls the film visually striking but overdetermined, noting strong turns from Mélissa Boros, Golshifteh Farahani, and a gaunt Tahar Rahim.
- Ducournau says the team blended silicone prosthetics with CGI to sharpen light and rigidity on the stone effect, following a Cannes bow that drew split reactions and a Palme d’Or nomination.