Playground 15

7-year-old Nora (Maya Vanderbeque) is struggling to fit in and find her place within the social dynamics of her new school. When Nora witnesses her older brother Abel (Günter Duret) being bullied by other kids, she rushes to protect him by warning their father. But Abel forces her to remain silent, while he endures more humiliation and harassment. Caught in a conflict of loyalty, Nora finds herself torn between children's and adults’ worlds.

Transposing the gritty realism of filmmakers such as Jacques Audiard and the Dardenne Brothers to the inner world of kids, Laura Wandel’s debut feature crafts an empathetic and visceral portrait of the cruelty of children, and the ways in which adults fail to protect them.