White Paradise (2022 film)

White Paradise is a 2022 French drama thriller film directed and co-written by Guillaume Renusson in his feature film directorial debut, starring Denis Ménochet, Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Victoire Du Bois. The film made its world premiere in official competition at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival on 24 August 2022. Ad Vitam released the film theatrically in France on 4 January 2023.

Plot

Samuel is a widower who lives isolated in his chalet in the heart of the Italian Alps. One night, Chehreh, a young Afghan woman takes refuge in his home, trapped by the snow. She wants to cross the mountain to reach France. Samuel does not want trouble but faced with his distress, he decides to help her. Beyond the hostility of nature, they will also have to face the hostility of the locals who are determined to stop Chehreh from crossing the border.

Cast

Denis Ménochet as Samuel
Zar Amir Ebrahimi as Chehreh
Victoire Du Bois as Justine
Oscar Copp as Victor
Luca Terracciano as Stefano
Guillaume Pottier as Cédric
Roxane Barazzuol as Léa
Julie Moulier as Driver
Loïc Corbery as The second cop
Julie-Anne Roth as The nurse
Bastien Ughetto as Grégoire

Production

Filming

Filming took place in the Hautes-Alpes and in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. Principal photography started in March 2020, but it had to be interrupted on 16 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed on 11 January 2021 and wrapped on 12 February 2021.

Release

The film made its world premiere in official competition at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival on 24 August 2022. It had a limited theatrical release in France by Ad Vitam on 4 January 2023.

Reception

Critical response

, a French cinema website, gave the film an average rating of 3.5/5, based on a survey of 21 French reviews.

Box office

In France, White Paradise was released to 120 theaters, where it debuted at number fifteenth at the box office, selling 38,064 tickets. The film sold a total of 81,678 tickets after 8 weeks in French theaters.