The Worst Ones
{{Infobox film
| image = Les Pires 2022 film poster.png
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| native_name = {{Infobox name module|fr|Les Pires}}
| director = Lise Akoka
Romane Gueret
| screenplay = Lise Akoka
Romane Gueret
Elénore Gurrey
| producer = Marine Alaric
Frédéric Jouve
| cinematography = Eric Dumont
| music = Sebastien Pan
| editing = Albertine Lastera
| studio = {{Plainlist|
- Les Films Velvet
- France 3 Cinéma
- Pictanovo
}}
| distributor = Pyramide Distribution
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2022|5|22|Cannes|2022|12|7|France}}
| runtime = 99 minutes
| country = France
| language = French
| gross = $308,170{{cite Box Office Mojo|id=19719862|title=The Worst Ones (2022)|access-date=12 June 2023}}
}}
The Worst Ones ({{langx|fr|Les Pires}}) is a 2022 French drama film directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret. The film premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Un Certain Regard Award.
Premise
The film tells behind the scenes of a shoot in the North of France. A film director chooses to shoot in the Picasso city, in Boulogne-sur-Mer. He sends out a casting, looking for atypical personalities: young school dropouts, ADHD sufferers, foster children, young people leaving home... He chooses two girls and two boys, Lily, Maylis, Jessy and Ryan. Everyone is surprised by this choice: why did he only take “the worst”? Local associations are worried about the impossible hopes represented by the easy life of a film crew, and the filmmaker is worried about reinforcing the stereotypes he wanted to denounce.
The film portrays its heroes. Raised by his sister, Ryan suffers from attention disorders and hyperactivity and cannot stand the school environment despite the help of his life assistant. Lily goes from one guy to another, and we discover that she is weakened by the death of her brother, who died of cancer. Maylis, very little expansive, wonders about her participation in the shooting. Jessy, finally, plays the provocateur but he hides flaws too.
Cast
{{Castlist|
- Mallory Wanecque as Lily
- Timéo Mahaut as Ryan
- Johan Heldenbergh as Gabriel
- Loïc Pech as Jessy
- Mélina Vanderplancke as Maylis
- Esther Archambault as Judith
- Matthias Jacquin as Victor
- Angélique Gernez as Mélodie
- Dominique Frot as Ryan's grandmother
- Rémy
}}
Production
Akoka and Gueret had previously made a short film, Chasse Royale, dealing with the practice of film casting. After that, they decided to create a story about film production.{{cite web|url=https://www.cineuropa.org/en/interview/425942/|title=Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret • Directors of The Worst Ones|last=Lemercier|first=Fabien|date=25 May 2022|publisher=Cineuropa|access-date=26 June 2022}}
Release
The Worst Ones premiered 22 May at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Un Certain Regard Award.{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/un-certain-regard-awards-the-worst-ones-vicky-krieps-1235279964/|last=Lodge|first=Guy|title=French Film 'The Worst Ones' and Vicky Krieps Win Big in Cannes Un Certain Regard Awards|date=27 May 2022|magazine=Variety}} It was theatrically released in France on 7 December 2022 by Pyramide Distribution.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnc.fr/cinema/actualites/les-pires---du-casting-a-la-realisation_1848925|title=Les Pires : du casting à la réalisation|date=8 December 2022|website=CNC.fr|language=fr|access-date=26 January 2023}}
Reception
=Critical response=
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_worst_ones|title=THE WORST ONES|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date=14 January 2024}} Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generaly favorable reviews".https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-worst-ones?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c
=Awards and nominations=
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.lesfilmsvelvet.com/lespires}}
- {{IMDb title}}
{{Un Certain Regard}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worst Ones, The}}
Category:Films about filmmaking