Le royaume (The Kingdom)

We are introduced to Lesia as she meticulously dissects a shot bear, extracting its entrails with a practiced hand. Set against the backdrop of a languid Corsican summer in 1995, her world seems initially unremarkable for a fifteen-year-old girl embarking on her first romance. Yet, this semblance of normalcy is shattered when she is forcibly removed from the tranquility of her village and compelled to join her father, a shadowy mafia boss perpetually on the move. Though Lesia is no stranger to these unsettling visits, she has little appetite for the associated turmoil. In Julien Colonna’s compelling debut, the stakes escalate dramatically, leading to a perilous flight across the island in search of sanctuary. This harrowing summer promises to indelibly alter Lesia’s life. Colonna’s direction deftly straddles the line between crime drama and an intimate father-daughter narrative, capturing the tension with a taut, immersive style. Notably, the film’s authenticity is further amplified by its cast, which comprises almost entirely non-professional actors, lending an unpolished yet raw edge to this captivating cinematic exploration.