Les Olympiades
Director: Jacques Audiard, J.B. Steele
Writer: Céline Sciamma, Léa Mysius, Jacques Audiard
Based on: short comics by Adrian Tomine
Cast: Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba, Noémie Merlant, Jehnny Beth
Seen on: 14.2.2025

Content Note: bullying

Plot:
Émilie (Lucie Zhang) is strapped for cash, her job insecure. So she decides to get a roommate. When Camille (Makita Samba) shows up to move in, she is surprised at first to see a man, but the sexual chemistry between them is undeniable and even knowing that it probably isn’t a good idea, they go for both sex and being roommates. Meanwhile, Nora (Noémie Merlant) is excited to start a new life: at 32, she is reinventing herself and goes to university to become a lawyer. Eager to fit in with her younger co-students, she goes to a party in a blonde wig, only to be confused with cam girl Amber Sweet (Jehnny Beth) – something the other students won’t let her live down.

Les Olympiades is a good film, but it is also a little shallow and forgettable with a few exceptional moments.

It’s been half a year since I saw the film and when I looked at my „to review“ list, I didn’t know anymore what film „Les Olympiades“ was. That happens to me sometimes. Usually, when I see the movie poster, I start to remember again. In this case, I needed a little more. It was only when I started to read through the plot description that memory came back to me – and that already says a lot about the film’s staying power.

What I do remember vividly, though, is Merlant’s performance and her character arc. Especially the way the bullying of her classmates just destroys her. As somebody who returned to university as an older student myself, Nora‘s excitement and her nervousness were palpable, as well as her wish to just be one of the younger students. I was fortunate enough not be bullied in this setting, quite to the contrary, my time at university was lovely – and so my heart broke even more for her that she didn’t get to experience that. Merlant captures Nora’s pain, her confusion, her mortification in a way that will haunt me forever, I think.

The way her story continues into another journey of self-discovery was also beautifully handled and I really enjoyed this part of the film. Compared to this, the rest of it is just okay, though. The performances are really good, and the story lines tie together rather nicely, but it never amounts to much. The way Émilie and Camille find each other in the end feels a little unearned, maybe simply because I never really resonated that much with them, at least when compared to Nora.

Stylistically, the film is not uninteresting, shot in black and white and with plenty of sex scenes. I didn’t really understand the choice of black and white, apart from it looking pretty good and maybe there is not more to it. The sex scenes were definitely well-handled, though, never really feeling gratuitous and nice for a change in a often very sexless cinematic landscape. But in the end, the film didn’t really stay with me.

Summarizing: good while it lasts.