09/10/2024 - Solange Cicurel drills down into the gruesome ins and outs of bullying in an awareness-raising family drama

After directing two comedies about the ties between friends and families (Don’t Tell Her [+see also:
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film profile], awarded the Magritte for Best First Film in 2018) and Isn’t She Lovely? [+see also:
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interview: Solange Cicurel
film profile] (released in 2020), Solange Cicurel is changing tack to offer up TKT, a drama about bullying at school and via social media which is being released in Belgium today by its production company, Beluga Tree, together with cinema advertising outfit Brightfish.

The film follows Emma (Lanna De Palmaert), a young 16-year-old girl who seems to have everything going for her, but who ends up in a hospital bed trapped in a deep coma. By her side, her parents repeatedly insist: "I should have seen it". Consumed by guilt, the mother (Emilie Dequenne) struggles to understand the incomprehensible: how did her little girl end up here? Initially stunned, Emma rouses herself and tries to make sense of things, going back in time through her memories, revisiting several more or less recent episodes which, when pieced together, tell the story of the bullying Emma had been the victim of.

As is often the case, it starts with a little thing. A white pair of trousers, a bloodstain, a video that does the rounds. A good-natured joke, "just for a laugh". Except this incident sets off a chain of events which slowly take on unmanageable dimensions, where group pressure, shame and social media provide a dramatic sounding board for something which started out as nothing. Where Emma once stood at the centre of a friendly and seemingly welcoming social network, she finds herself increasingly isolated. She withdraws when at home, failing to communicate with her parents despite them always being there for her. "Don’t worry".

TKT retraces every step in the process which leads to a bullying tragedy which resonates with so many others, despite its singularity. In this respect, Solange Cicurel’s movie falls into a wider and crucial societal reflection. TKT has clearly been devised as a mainstream film, accessible to adults but also notably attempting to adopt a film language that’s accessible to teens, via music and cinematography work coming courtesy of director of photography Son Doan, which is inspired by series such as Sex Education and Euphoria. The film is closer to a parable than a social drama. Its grounding is deliberately hazy, meaning that the story could be unfolding anywhere and, despite her self-assurance and undeniable strengths, Emma nonetheless becomes a victim, as if to illustrate that there’s no such thing as a typical victim, or a typical bully for that matter.

The actor playing Emma needed to have a certain nature, an unknown face viewers could immediately associate with this character. And the gamble has paid off with young actress Lanna De Palmaert, who’s playing her first on-screen role and whose naturalness and photogenicity make her the obvious choice for the part. In the shoes of her parents, Emilie Dequenne once again impresses for the pure emotion she exudes, while Stéphane De Groodt is astonishing in a role we wouldn’t naturally associate him with. Thanks to these strengths and its overall accessibility, TKT - which should enjoy ample broadcasting due to its pedagogical qualities - might help to encourage much-needed conversation on the ravages caused by bullying among young people and to open up dialogue between generations.

TKT is produced by Beluga Tree, while international sales are entrusted to Other Angle Pictures.

(Translated from French)