Ever since its inception in 1969, the prestigious parallel section Quinzaine des Cinéastes (Director’s Fortnight) has continuously presented a fine selection of innovative cinema at the Cannes Film Festival. This year’s program showcased 19 feature films and 10 shorts. Among them the standout title Wild Foxes (La Danse des renards). Valéry Carnoy’s debut feature was honored not with one but two awards: the Europa Cinemas Cannes Label and the Coup de Coeur des auteurs de la SACD. Both of which will immensely boost the film’s journey through the international festival circuit.
Wild Foxes has the look of a sports film, yet explores topics that surpass the boundaries of the genre. The audience is thrown straight into the ring with a group of adolescent boxers at a sports boarding school. Where they undergo relentless physical training under the watchful eye of Coach Bogdan, who pushes them far beyond their limits.
Camille (Samuel Kircher) – or Cam – is at the center of the story. A boxing prodigy who reigns supreme as the rising star of the class. Supported by his best friend Matteo (Faycal Anaflous), Camille inspires admiration and motivation among his peers. As the European Championships approach, the pressure on him intensifies. As do the dreams and expectations of those around him.
Outside the ring, Cam and Matteo spend their afternoons in the nearby forest feeding and observing foxes. Yes, what a specific hobby. During one such outing, Camille suffers a serious accident. Falling off a 10-meter cliff and narrowly escaping death thanks to Matteo, who carries him to the hospital. This event destabilizes the boy and sets into motion a conflict deep within him about belonging, masculinity, vulnerability, and friendship. All topics that Carnoy previously explored in his short film Titan (2021).
Wild Foxes delves into questions of emotional pain and mental health, which, as Camille comes to realize, can hurt as much as any physical ailment. The thick scar on his forearm is but an externalization of the deeper wounds he carries. Pairing panic attacks and psychosomatic pain with a hypermasculine sport is quite the mix. And this is exactly what makes this film compelling.
“Your success is my success,” Matteo says to Cam prior to the accident. It’s a statement that encapsulates the weight of collective ambition placed on Camille’s shoulders. In reverse, it also implies that his failure brings down everyone who depends on him. This harsh reality makes Cam retreat inward, as he cannot deliver what people expect of him. Bullying and discrediting comments from his classmates, who are convinced that he is faking his condition, and this ultimately drives a wedge between them.
To make matters worse, the growing scepticism of Coach Bogdan increases the pressure on Cam. The adults around Camille, knowingly or not, uphold a culture of toughness and emotional repression. As much as they are pushed to exercise their bodies, they are given little to no space to explore their emotional worlds.
A brief but meaningful encounter with a girl from the Taekwondo program offers Camille a glimpse of a different life. She plays the trumpet, embraces her emotions, and refuses to define herself solely by her sport. It is a touching contrast and a pivotal moment for Camille. Though the underlying romantic subplot between them feels slightly unnecessary, as her presence would have been powerful enough as a platonic relationship.
Samuel Kircher, who had his breakout debut at Cannes in 2023 in Catherine Breillat’s Last Summer, returned this year to the Croisette with two films: The Girl in the Snow and Wild Foxes. Kircher carries the role of Camille with immense tenderness and intelligence. His versatility is striking, especially how he molds himself into the body and mind of an upcoming boxing champion, training for months to get the moves right.
The rest of the cast was equally well picked, with festival staple Jean-Baptiste Durand as Bogdan. The young boxers were all athletes and first-time actors, which contributed to the unfiltered feel of the film. Kircher plays with abandon, precision, and passion, and never strays away from his characters’ truth. A remarkable performer.
Arnaud Guez’s camera stays intimately close to Camille, both as he fights in the ring and as he quietly contemplates his future. The raw, documentary-style cinematography is occasionally interrupted by vertical iPhone footage from the boys’ locker room. Adding a sense of immediacy to the film. In general, one could say that Guez managed to keep pace with the teenagers’ restless energy, thanks to the choice of using a handheld camera for the majority of the shoot.
At its core, Wild Foxes is an indictment of narrow, rigid models of masculinity and of the adults who perpetuate them. They overlook his distress entirely, encouraging him to “toughen up.” It is this harmful behavior that Carnoy highlights in his film. A topic that is as timely as it is urgent. Camille has been so hyper-focused on one path, which he eventually begins to question, that he never had the chance to discover what truly drives him. Ultimately, the film leaves us with a powerful moral: too much of one good thing, unchecked, can lead to destruction.
