‘A Place to Heal’ Review: An Intensely Performed French Teen Psych Ward Drama That Shifts Uneasily Between Reality and Fiction

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‘A Place to Heal’ Review: An Intensely Performed French Teen Psych Ward Drama That Shifts Uneasily Between Reality and Fiction

The Hollywood Reporter · 2 hours ago

Cédric Kahn's new film "A Place to Heal" ("15/18" in French) is a French-language drama set in the psychiatric ward of a public hospital where teenagers aged 15 to 18 are kept as in-patients. Directed and co-written by Kahn, who spent months embedded in a real institution to prepare the script with Kahina Le Querrec, the film is praised as an intensely performed ensemble piece led by young actors, but it struggles to cohere as a gripping narrative, undermined by an overly loose structure and an uneven blend of professional and amateur performers portraying serious psychological conditions.

The story follows roughly a dozen young patients, centring on a loose love triangle involving 17-year-old Lucia (Malou Khebizi), introverted Éloïse (Zoé Monpart) and Kenji Peyran, alongside a moving subplot about Marvin (Daoud Gary), a boy dealing with hallucinations. Kahn himself appears as the ward's chief psychiatrist, Étienne, while Antoine de Foucauld plays a trainee who serves as the audience's entry point. The reviewer commends Kahn's skill directing young talent and his respectful portrayal of the ward's staff and patients, but argues the film's blurring of documentary realism and fiction sometimes feels unconvincing, suggesting the material might have worked better as a straightforward documentary.

  • Cédric Kahn's drama is set in a French teen psychiatric ward
  • Strong performances from young cast, but narrative feels unfocused
  • Blend of real and fictional elements doesn't always convince

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