07/10/2025 - Belgian actress Bérangère McNeese presents her first feature film about a young woman who takes flight on the wings of sisterhood

The 40th edition of the Namur International Francophone Film Festival will allow audiences to discover Bérangère McNeese’s debut feature film, The Girls From Above [+see also:
interview: Bérangère McNeese
film profile], which is premiering in competition. Especially known to mainstream audiences for the raft of memorable roles she’s played in an assortment of successful French series (H.P.I: Haut Potentiel Intellectuel, of course, which proved a hit with TF1 audiences, but there’s also the dark comedy series Good People, broadcast on Arte), the actress has also made a name for herself as a filmmaker thanks to a fistful of shorts, including Matriochkas, which met with a number of awards on the festival circuit and which scooped the Magritte for Best Short Fiction Film in 2020. The latter focused on the young French actress, Héloïse Volle, who was a real source of inspiration for the director and who’s joined forces with the director once again to star in McNeese’s first feature film.

The Girls From Above tells the story of a young high schooler called Héloïse (Héloïse Volle) who’s at odds with the world and who runs away from her children’s home where she’s been concealing a problematic relationship, finding refuge on the seventh floor of a council block with a group of girls whom she meets by chance. Up there, above the world, they’re a community which welcomes, integrates and protects this young woman, offering a welcome harbour from a chaotic life. Whether up above or down below, it’s a case of one for all and all for one. Opinionated Mallorie (Shirel Nataf), whose voice tends to carry, plays the part of the fun-loving big sister. Tetchy Jenna (Yowa-Angélys Tshikaya) has an air of reluctant boss about her, while Mona (Mona Berard) demonstrates a level of restraint implying her mind is elsewhere. And, inevitably, from time to time, they’re brought back down to earth. This sorority lives according to its own rules and principles, a series of commandments which helps them survive the outside world: leave your problems at the door, don’t cost us any money, bring some money back home with you, and, most importantly, don’t lie. To help them stay afloat, some of the girls work in a nightclub, another works in a supermarket. They practice the art of getting by, flirting with limits, turning weaknesses into potential strengths, claiming what’s owed to them and making sure they don’t lose out. But when you play with fire, you’ll always risk burning your wings.

The Girls From Above takes a wonderfully modern approach to exploring the anger felt by these young women. Mallorie, Jenna and Mona are angry about the precariousness which prevents them from dreaming big, about the categories the world wants to impose on them, and about the objectification of their bodies - bodies which they claim loudly and proudly as their own and which they use as weapons rather than sources of weakness. The outsider, Héloïse, sets her - and therefore our - gaze on this small, self-managed community which is characterised by mutual aid and sharing, but which nonetheless struggles with the weight of the outside world and with the risks that come with belonging to a group, namely its protective role or its potential leanings towards censorship. It’s a gritty tale which tenderly observes the strength of these girls without ever ignoring their harsher sides and which is carried by the disarmingly natural performances of four young actresses, seen here in their first major roles.

The Girls From Above was produced by Kwassa Films (Belgium) and Paprika Films (France). World sales are entrusted to Be For Films.

(Translated from French)