After a painful breakup, Adèle is left with her emotional life in shambles. To escape the chaos, she moves in with her cousin Rachel—a resolute realist who has little patience for romantic self-pity. Instead, she advises pragmatic solutions: new men, new experiences, no strings attached. And so Adèle throws herself into her love life – but something is strange: every man she meets looks exactly the same. With laconic humor and a dash of surreal wit, Valérie Donzelli's feature film debut is a modern, female-perspective response to classic Nouvelle Vague romcoms. She plays the lead role herself, supported by the charming and ironically exaggerated Jérémie Elkaïm, who not only plays all the male love interests but also co-wrote the screenplay. This creative decision creates absurd comedy and, at the same time, a deeper reflection on the impossibility of completely reinventing oneself and one's desires. THE QUEEN OF HEARTS (original title: LA REINE DES POMMES) premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2009 and was subsequently shown at the Festival Premiers Plans d'Angers, where it won the audience award. Donzelli's bold, musically accompanied directorial approach immediately made her one of the most exciting voices in French auteur cinema.
Adèle's attempt to recover from a breakup leads to surprising results. Jumping from one lover to the next, she realizes that they are similar.
After a painful breakup, Adèle is left with her emotional life in shambles. To escape the chaos, she moves in with her cousin Rachel—a resolute realist who has little patience for romantic self-pity. Instead, she advises pragmatic solutions: new men, new experiences, no strings attached. And so Adèle throws herself into her love life – but something is strange: every man she meets looks exactly the same.
With laconic humor and a dash of surreal wit, Valérie Donzelli's feature film debut is a modern, female-perspective response to classic Nouvelle Vague romcoms. She plays the lead role herself, supported by the charming and ironically exaggerated Jérémie Elkaïm, who not only plays all the male love interests but also co-wrote the screenplay. This creative decision creates absurd comedy and, at the same time, a deeper reflection on the impossibility of completely reinventing oneself and one's desires.
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS (original title: LA REINE DES POMMES) premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2009 and was subsequently shown at the Festival Premiers Plans d'Angers, where it won the audience award. Donzelli's bold, musically accompanied directorial approach immediately made her one of the most exciting voices in French auteur cinema.