Barrage directed by Laura Schroefer starring Lolita Chammah, Themis Pauwels and Isabelle Huppert is coming out today in France. It’s a coproduction between MACT Productions, Entre Chien et Loup and Red Lion Films. The film was selected at the 68th Berlinale (Forum) and is released in France by Alfama Films.

Synopsis : Catherine returns to Luxembourg from Switzerland following a period of ten years during which her daughter Alba was raised by her own mother Elisabeth. From the side of the tennis court, she watches Elisabeth coach Alba, her face clearly showing how well she remembers this mixture of stimulus and humiliation from her own childhood. The roles in this female family trio have been assigned. Does Catherine stand any sort of chance of being a mother to her daughter after so much time has passed ? On a spontaneous trip to the family’s summer house, Alba and Catherine’s wounds and longings come out into the open. Sometimes they seem more like two very different sisters, who dance together in the garden and wear the same childish sweatshirts. When they bury Catherine’s dog Charbon in the forest, they resemble two children performing a ceremony for a pet. Catherine named the dog after a song, “Black Like Coal” – the same dark colour as the depressive moods she takes tablets to ward off. The gentleness of Laura Schroeder’s storytelling is shot through with serious undertones, supported by a carefully chosen soundtrack and most of all her superb actors.

"Lolita Chammah et sa mère, Isabelle Huppert, ont beau être très convaincantes, elles se font voler la vedette par la jeune Thémis Pauwels, impressionnante de justesse."
Le Journal du Dimanche ***

"Profond et incarné"
The Hollywood Reporter ****

"Ce triangle féminin se révèle d’autant plus troublant que Zaza et Catherine sont interprétées avec justesse par Isabelle Huppert et Lolita Chammah, mère et fille à la ville."
Le Parisien ***