Leonardo Van Dijl’s Julie Keeps Quiet is a reserved but powerful drama about a junior tennis player who stays silent as her coach falls under investigation.
Director: Leonardo Van Dijl
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 100′
BFI London Film Festival Screening: October 18-19, 2024
U.S. Release Date: TBA
U.K. Release Date: TBA
Belgium’s entry for next year’s International Feature Oscar is Julie Keeps Quiet, a gripping first feature from writer-director Leonardo Van Dijl. It begins with 15-year-old Julie (Tessa Van den Broeck) practising her strokes and movements on the tennis court. She is already a star player at the prestigious academy she attends. And a major try-out for the Belgian Tennis Federation is on the horizon, which could be a launching pad for her sporting dreams.
Suddenly, her coach Jeremy (Laurent Caron of Two Days, One Night) is suspended after news emerges that a former prodigy took her own life, with accusations of inappropriate behaviour swirling around him.
Hoping to foster an open dialogue, the head of the academy, Sophie (Claire Bodson), launches an internal investigation, with players encouraged to testify and speak out. Yet Julie stays silent. Instead, she tries as hard as she can to focus on her tennis with her new coach Backie (Pierre Gervais). However, a sense of turmoil soon begins to build inside her. What impact will that silence have on those close to Julie? And what does it reveal about what she has experienced?
Tennis has already had a big year on film thanks to Luca Guadagnino’s lively and thrilling Challengers. But Julie Keeps Quiet is a different kettle of fish. For one thing, van Dijl makes his presentation of the sport less kinetic and more about the mechanics of Julie working on her game. This is a sport of routine, where you face shot after shot after shot to improve and become the very best. It requires discipline and Julie has that, balancing her schoolwork and friends with practices, early morning exercises and physical therapy (she starts the film recovering from a wrist injury). But then that routine is disrupted, and the serious accusations against her coach lead to that sense of inner turmoil.
Van Dijl’s considerate, methodical approach feels accurate to the game, showing both the physical effort required and how young players experience all the stresses and effort required (it is no wonder that tennis superstar Naomi Osaka signed on as an executive producer). The Dardenne Brothers are also attached here, and their realist influence is all over this. Dialogue is rare, and the shots from DP Nicolas Karakatsanis (Cruella, Dumb Money) are mostly static with neutral, subdued lighting. Even when the action turns to the court, there are only a few camera pans. As a result, the style does not distract from the core of the story, which is Julie. A driven, aspiring athlete who just wants to play but is burying something deep down in the process.
Julie Keeps Quiet is fair and non-judgemental to Julie and her decision to remain silent, whilst examining her inability to express or admit what is wrong. Her repeated assurances that everything is OK set up barriers to her friends and parents (Ruth Becquart – who co-wrote the script with van Dilj – and Koen De Bouw). Jeremy’s shadow looms over Julie. Not least because she is still in contact with him, with the two chatting on the phone and meeting in public. Their player-coach relationship is uncomfortably close and full of control and coercion, though what specifically happened between them is handled implicitly and delicately by van Dijl.
Meanwhile, there is a stellar central performance from Tessa Van den Broeck. A young tennis player making her acting debut, she gels effortlessly with the physicality of the role. That is obvious during the tennis scenes, but her expressions and body language paint a portrait of the concern and reluctance of a teenager struggling under many pressures. She could be a name to watch for in the future, either on court or on-screen.
The film does drag in the final third, and there are points where you wonder if it needs a catalyst towards an emotional climax. But Julie Keeps Quiet is not that kind of drama. Its natural pacing and atmosphere are all part of the deft touch that van Dijl uses for this story, which is remarkable for a debut project. It leads to a reserved but powerful drama that always has an acute focus on Julie and her pressures. That is enforced by an impressive Van den Broeck, who gives a conflicted and deeply sympathetic turn captured in numerous lingering close-ups.It is a film about the terrible aftermath of abuse and one-sided relationship dynamics. It also makes a case for giving space to victims, acknowledging how tough it can be to speak out until the need to save others from something terrible arises. Until that point, Julie Keeps Quiet takes its time and manages to say a lot without saying much at all.
Julie Keeps Quiet will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival on October 18-19, 2024. Read our list of 30 movies to watch at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival!
