Cannes 2025: In "Adam's Interest," a tense face-off between Léa Drucker and Anamaria Vartolomei

CRITICS' WEEK

Cannes and Laura Wandel already have a long and beautiful history. In 2014, her short film Les Corps étrangers was part of the official selection, which the Belgian filmmaker returned to seven years later for her first feature film, Un monde , presented at Un certain regard. Tackling the painful subject of school bullying, the film caused a sensation, imposing an immersive staging at the level of children that fits this character of a sister, witness to the violence suffered by her brother.

Some expected Laura Wandel to make it through the competition with her second feature film, The Interest of Adam , and its star-studded cast, led by Léa Drucker ( Custody , Last Summer ) and Anamaria Vartolomei ( The Event , Maria , The Count of Monte Cristo ). The film ultimately landed as the opening film of Critics' Week, delivering results that lived up to the promise made by A World .

With a length as tight as ever, a short seventy-three minutes, Adam's Interest follows Lucy (Léa Drucker), head nurse, who one evening has to deal with a difficult case. For several days, Adam, a 4-year-old child, has been cared for in the pediatric ward. He is suffering from malnutrition due to the excessive control exerted by his mother, Rebecca (Anamaria Vartolomei), to the point of putting his life in danger. Against the advice of her colleagues, Lucy is convinced that convincing the mother to play along is the only way to get her son to accept hospital food. At the risk of her kindness towards an erratic personality turning against her.

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