Filming began on 30 March for Before the Storm, Éric Gravel’s third feature film following Cash Test Aglaé (2017) and Full Time (winner of the Orizzonti Award for Best Director and Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 2021, with four César Award nominations in 2024 and two wins for Best Music and Best Editing).

The cast includes Mélanie Thierry (nominated for a César and a Lumière Award for Best Actress in 2019 and 2026 for Memoir of War and Mariana's Room, and appearing this year in Mrs., What Is Love? et A Woman's Life), Ludivine Sagnier (three-time César nominee, recently seen in When Fall Is Coming) and actor-director Cédric Kahn (recently seen in Ollie). Also joining the line-up are Laetitia Dosch (2018 Lumière Award for Best Newcomer for Montparnasse Bienvenüe, appearing this year in A Place for Her), Dali Benssalah (who made a strong impression in Athena and La Traviata, My Brothers and I, and who will appear this year in Le Lièvre and Sans cesse mon chéri), Lyès Salem (Abou Leila, A Family for 1640 Days) and Sara Giraudeau (winner of the 2018 César Award for Best Supporting Actress for Bloody Milk, internationally renowned for the series The Bureau, and currently in cinemas in France in Behind the Palm Trees). Also appearing in the film is Françoise Lebrun (nominated for the 2023 Lumière Award for Best Actress for Vortex).

Written by the director (nominated for the 2002 César Award for Best Original Screenplay), the plot takes us to a rural area where a private nurse, a roofer, a social worker, an estate agent, a cleaner and a man on probation each try to meet the challenges of a particularly difficult day. As a storm approaches, their paths are about to violently collide…

Before the Storm was produced by Raphaëlle Delauche and Nicolas Sanfaute for Novoprod Cinéma, and co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, Coup de Cœur Productions, LN Films, Les Films Velvet, Paprika Films and Belgian company Panache Productions. Pre-bought by Canal+, Ciné+ OCS and France Télévisions, the feature film is supported by the Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regions, as well as the Sofica funds Palatine Étoile, Cinéaxe and Cinémage. The nine-week shoot will run until June (with a break in May) in Sens and Troyes, with Victor Séguin as director of photography, and editing will be handled by Mathilde Van de Moortel (César Awards 2016 and 2023 for Mustang and Full Time). International sales will be handled by Be For Films and distribution in French cinemas by Ad Vitam.

For the record, Novoprod Cinéma, which won the 2025 IFICIC Award for Best New Independent Production Company, will release Sophie Beaulieu’s The Doll in France on 22 April.