Eight-year-old Nelly has just lost her beloved grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother’s childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods where her mother, Marion, used to play and built the treehouse she’s heard so much about. One day her mother abruptly leaves. That’s when Nelly meets a girl her own age in the woods building a treehouse. Her name is Marion.
After period drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma returns to the contemporary world of children and adolescents that has characterised her previous work. It’s beautifully acted and has a beguiling fairy tale element and balances the line between childhood reverie and adult reality.
After screening as part of BFI London Film Festival 2021 Petite Maman will be on general release at HOME from Fri 19 Nov