Review: A Place to Heal
- VENICE 2026: Cédric Kahn brilliantly stages a highly dynamic and lively ensemble film set at the heart of a child and adolescent psychiatry unit
“We’re all a little crazy and unloved. Fifteen to 18 is like a whirlwind!”, “I’ve never seen crazy children; only fragile children who have problems.” Whether seen from the perspective of teenagers in acute distress but nevertheless filled with the intense energy typical of their age, or from that of the carers trying to help them as best they can – which is no easy task – the different facets of mental health inevitably bring with them a wealth of poignant individual emotions while reflecting the tensions underpinning contemporary society. Cédric Kahn has chosen to set his new film, the accomplished A Place to Heal (unveiled in competition at the 83rd Venice Film Festival) at this turbulent crossroads, through a fictional lens and with the conviction of a healer, yet without ever turning a blind eye to the darker sides of his subject.
Addiction, self-harm, suicide attempts, identity disorders, depression, psychotic episodes, epilepsy, anorexia or bulimia, the after-effects of abuse or sexual assault, irresponsible or overwhelmed parents – the list goes on. Through consultations with the team at a public hospital’s child and adolescent psychiatry unit – headed up by Étienne, played by the director himself – but also through the patients’ everyday lives, from conversations and confidences in the dining room or bedrooms to phone calls with their parents, a highly realistic picture emerges of the distress experienced by a dozen young people on the brink (“I want to die”, “Who are we to know whether we should stay alive?”).
Getting them to speak, in the hope of rebuilding themselves, is a process that comes with its fair share of difficulties and turbulence, amidst an atmosphere of heightened emotions where awareness is the result of patient work, but also of a highly regulated environment involving medication and various restrictions. This is all the more the case because some of the young people have been placed there by judicial order and can prove violent towards others or themselves. While it is a place of care, it is also a place of confinement. And when Enzo (Kenji Peyran) arrives – familiar with care homes and delinquency since childhood, and now just three weeks away from his 18th birthday and the prospect of being tried as an adult – a desire for freedom begins to hang in the air, fuelled by romantic jealousy involving Lucia (Malou Khebizi) and Éloïse (Zoé Monpart).
Written by Kahn and Kahina Le Querrec, the screenplay – unfolding in three stages over the course of six weeks – gradually shifts from an almost documentary-like approach, propelled by Géraldine Mangenot’s brisk editing and Patrick Ghiringelli’s remarkable cinematography, and giving genuine substance to its many highly engaging characters, towards a far more fictional and rather surprising register that gives the movie room to breathe and cleverly brings the story full circle. Add to this Kahn’s highly assured direction – and his ability to create variety within confined spaces – together with the bubbling energy of youth, and the result is a film buoyed by an appealing humanist and cinephile spirit.
A Place to Heal was produced by Ad Vitam Films, and co-produced by Tropdebonheur Productions, France 2 Cinéma and Ad Vitam Productions. It is sold internationally by Charades.
(Translated from French)
Photogallery 04/09/2026: Venice 2026 - A Place to Heal
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© 2026 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it
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