San Sebastian PerlakFamily/ChildComing of AgeComedy/Satire
Thirteen-year-old Vincent stands in front of the mirror. After failing to style his bangs with hairspray he stole from his older brother, he ends up plastering them down with water before heading to school. He has just one goal: to look cool in front of Marion. With this trivial morning commotion, audiences are instantly transported to the Parisian suburbs of 1985. Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, the masters of French comedy who made history with The Intouchables (2011), impeccably recreate the era’s furniture, costumes, tactile textures of vinyl records, and music. Caught between an unemployed father (Louis Garrel), a mother steadily climbing the corporate ladder (Camille Cottin), and an older brother devoted to the new wave band The Cure, Vincent scrambles to protect his first love. While reviving the refreshing charm and humor of La Boum, the directors do not forget that this era was a time of profound social upheaval. No one was safe from the threat of unemployment, women were finally breaking into key positions, and racism was seeping into the political landscape. In front of anxious and conservative adults, Vincent and Marion sing the next generation’s hope, striving to love each other across racial and religious divides. Armed with humor rivaling Reply 1988, Just an Illusion is both a comedy and an affectionate, lovely journey through time where laughter, tears, nostalgia, and the present exquisitely overlap.
They first worked together on the short film Les Petits Souliers (1999), selected for the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival, before making early features together including Let′s Be Friends (2004), Those Happy Days (2006), and Tellement Proches (2009). The Intouchables (2011) became a worldwide box-office phenomenon, drawing 19 million admissions in France alone and over 34 million more internationally. They followed with Samba (2014) and C′est la vie! (2017), which received ten César Award nominations, and The Specials (2019), which received a standing ovation after its out-of-competition screening at Cannes and went on to win the 2020 César des Lycéens. They also worked across formats with the TV series En Thérapie (2021–2022), broadcast on Arte, and the talk show Les Rencontres du Papotin (2022), which aired on France 2 before its format was exported to more than 30 countries. Following A Difficult Year (2023), their ninth feature, Just an Illusion, screened in Perlak, the non-competitive showcase section for outstanding films at the 2026 San Sebastián Film Festival.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
They first worked together on the short film Les Petits Souliers (1999), selected for the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival, before making early features together including Let′s Be Friends (2004), Those Happy Days (2006), and Tellement Proches (2009). The Intouchables (2011) became a worldwide box-office phenomenon, drawing 19 million admissions in France alone and over 34 million more internationally. They followed with Samba (2014) and C′est la vie! (2017), which received ten César Award nominations, and The Specials (2019), which received a standing ovation after its out-of-competition screening at Cannes and went on to win the 2020 César des Lycéens. They also worked across formats with the TV series En Thérapie (2021–2022), broadcast on Arte, and the talk show Les Rencontres du Papotin (2022), which aired on France 2 before its format was exported to more than 30 countries. Following A Difficult Year (2023), their ninth feature, Just an Illusion, screened in Perlak, the non-competitive showcase section for outstanding films at the 2026 San Sebastián Film Festival.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
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