Leave One Day (Partir un jour) (2025)

[BluBonnet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcyZMsj0TDA

‘Leave One Day’ Trailer: Mystery Picture Making History As First Debut Film To Open Cannes Unveiled

Amélie Bonnin’s romantic dramedy Leave One Day (Partir un jour) will make history at the Cannes Film Festival in May as the first debut feature to open the event across its 78 editions.

Mystery swirled around the title when Cannes head Thierry Frémaux announced its prestigious slot earlier this month, but details are now emerging, and Deadline can unveil the subtitled French trailer, which gives a first taste of the film.

Building on Bonnin’s 2023 César-winning short film of the same name, the romantic musical dramedy revolves around rising chef Cécile who is about to fulfil a life-long ambition of opening her own signature gourmet restaurant in Paris.

Cécile is forced to put the project on hold when her father suffers a heart attack, and she is called back to her small hometown. Exasperated at being cut off from her bustling life in Paris, she unexpectedly reconnects with teenage crush Raphaël. The meeting rekindles long-buried memories and leads Cécile to question past choices and the current direction of her life.

Steeped in French culture and a sense of nostalgia, the upbeat film tackles universal themes as Cécile learns to make peace with the past, to be able to move forward with her life.

The feature stars Juliette Armanet (Rosalie) as Cécile and Cesar-winning actor Bastien Bouillon (Mr Aznavour, The Count Of Monte-Cristo, The Night Of The 12th) as Raphaël.

One of France’s most popular contemporary singers, Armanet was introduced to international audiences last summer with her performance of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ in front of a burning piano on a barge on the Seine River during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics Games.

Co-written with Dimitri Lucas, Leave One Day weaves musical interludes into the characters’ dialogue, with an eclectic playlist revisiting classic chanson française tunes as well as contemporary hits by Stromae and Céline Dion among others.

Shot in the Grand Est region of France, the film is produced by Topshot Films and Les Films du Worso, in co-production with Pathé and France 3 Cinéma. Broadcast partners include Canal+, Ciné+/OCS, and France Télévisions.

[BluBonnet]

Cannes Opener ‘Leave One Day,’ Produced by Pathé, Delivers Musical Ode to Everyday Life

Filmmaker Amélie Bonnin wanted her feature debut to carry a personal imprint.

The auteur behind this year’s Cannes Film Festival opener “Leave One Day” had already field-tested the concept of a modern jukebox musical with her César-winning short “Bye Bye,” but once she got to work expanding the premise — and looking for new tracks — she began to question her very focus.

“I had originally chosen a male lead more out of habit than intention,” Bonnin explains. “Once I realized that, I knew I wanted to take a different path. I wanted to bring a specific perspective — that of a forty-year-old woman navigating work, questions of motherhood, and desire. I needed to tell this story through my own lens.”

Bonnin reshaped her musical dramedy around a rising chef, played by French pop star Juliette Armanet, who returns to her rural hometown to confront a family health crisis and an unexpected pregnancy — just days before launching her namesake restaurant in Paris.

In Cannes, Bonnin herself will step into the international spotlight — a remarkable coup for a filmmaker who began in documentary after studying applied arts.

“I’ve always been drawn to visual storytelling, whether through typography, photography, or illustration,” she says. “Video only came later, at first as a way to film my own family members and to capture their stories.”

She started down her new path more than a decade ago. While in Canada studying graphic design, Bonnin dipped into a screening of Raymond Depardon’s small-town doc “Modern Life,” simply hoping for a few familiar sights. Instead, she found a cinematic north star. “I cried through the whole film,” she laughs. Overwhelmed and homesick, Bonnin fished out her headphones and looked for music to match the mood. That moment never faded, directly inspiring her own work.

[BluBonnet]

Standing ovation: 5 minutes


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[ophone]

It's here I learn the main actress Juliette Armanet is a professional singer.
Yesterday at the cinema I had the impression all the actors in this film were amateur singers but professional actors. Somehow this amateurish singing gives this film an authentic touch, first because it plays somewhere in eastern France where people are usually simpler than in Paris, second because it takes away the artificial from musicals, which are known to be inherently artificial.
I also like the film

[Show spoiler]leaves most questions open

at its end.

A clear recommendation from my part.