17/05/2026 - CANNES 2026: Avril Besson delivers a comedy leaning more towards sweet than bitter, which defies expectations and which is carried by a duo unique and dazzling in equal measures, composed of India Hair and Raya Martigny

Avril Besson is presenting a world premiere of her first fiction feature, Marvelous Mornings, in the Special Screenings section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection. It’s the follow-up to her short film, Queen Size, and a clear artistic extension of the latter, which also boasted the actress double-act India Hair and Raya Martigny. César-nominated, the short toured a hundred or so festivals around the world, collecting numerous trophies on the way, primarily audience awards. Marvelous Mornings stands out as wonderful piece of work for its cast, who are enhanced by the gentle winter light of the South of France and illuminated by emotions which are as beautiful as they are unexpected, which come to light amidst tragedy, their love blossoming on the ashes from the two bereavements at the heart of the story.

It begins with a death, a body which needs moving, the truth which needs hiding. It begins with someone waiting for the funeral home to answer their call, the phone ringing endlessly. It begins with Charlie (India Hair), "no cash, no man, no children, but I do have a grave", who’s travelling across France to deliver a crate of vinyl records to a stranger recommended to her by her deceased grandmother. Under the sun, or rather in the deepest, darkest night, when she arrives, Charlie comes across Marina (Raya Martigny), a good fairy who welcomes her and takes her in, before helping her with a personal quest which takes a few detours. Marina has lived there all her life, but she plans to leave as soon as an opportunity arises. Gravitating around them is a small community, an old bedridden godfather, a former school friend, a teen who lives only for the present, and Titou, who knew Charlie’s mother and who offers her an unhoped-for opportunity to see her again, across the ages, by way of a VHS video. Both of them orphans, more or less, with one of them opening themselves up unconditionally and the other instinctively withdrawing, Charlie and Marina slowly warm up to one another in the hope of offering each other better support.

Avril Besson’s first feature film is a light and tender comedy, full of the smaller things but focused on serious subjects and the sometimes too rapid passing of life, which is difficult to catch in flight. With great agility, the story endlessly sidesteps the well-trodden paths it looks poised to take, creating multiple possible routes and happily straying onto side-paths. Fatherless orphan Charlie isn’t 100% sure what she’s looking for. Open to revelations of all kinds, she experiences two significant encounters, with Marina and her mother who’s resurrected in her youth and with whom she initiates a dialogue by way of interposing dance moves. We’re already familiar with India Hair’s singular talent, which is encapsulated in one particular sequence where we see her looking at photos of her mother. Ready and waiting to respond to her overwhelming innocence is Raya Martigny’s fragile restraint, the two actresses injecting a special depth into several scenes which might otherwise have felt predictable. A modest, melancholy comedy freed from the usual constraints of the genre, Marvelous Mornings is a warm-hearted and luminous showcase of its two lead actresses’ authenticity.

Marvelous Mornings was produced by To Be Continued (France), in co-production with Topshot Films (France). World sales are entrusted to Loco Films.

(Translated from French)