French actor-director Cédric Kahn spent weeks embedded in an adolescent psychiatric ward to research his 12th feature, "A Place to Heal," which premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Rather than focusing on doctors and diagnoses, Kahn chose to centre the film on teenage patients and their resilience, tackling issues such as eating disorders, suicide attempts and bullying while deliberately avoiding a grim or pitying tone, aiming instead for something vital and visceral. The film reflects a growing and increasingly open conversation about youth mental health across France, the US and beyond.

The story follows 17-year-old Lucia, brought to a familiar psychiatric unit by police, where she reconnects with long-term patient Eloïse and other struggling teenagers, before the arrival of a new patient, Enzo, disrupts the ward. Kahn and co-writer Kahina Le Querrec drew on extensive real-world observation, with Le Querrec spending six months and Kahn several weeks inside separate units, gathering material later fictionalised into 12 adolescent characters and 10 caregivers so no real patient could be identified. Kahn also stars as Etienne, the blunt but respectful chief psychiatrist, a role modelled on a real unit head he observed and one that echoes his own directing style with actors.