FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL
Just an Illusion
In 1985 suburban Paris, a boy on the cusp of adolescence navigates family tensions, shifting friendships and first crushes. Caught between childhood and adulthood, he begins to question identity, belonging and the confusing world of the adults around him.
Director
Éric Toledano & Olivier Nakache (The Intouchables)
CAST
Louis Garrel • Camille Cottin • Pierre Lottin
RATING
VA
RUNTIME
1h 59m
COUNTRY
France
GENRE
Comedy / Drama
LANGUAGE
French (Eng Subs)
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BOOK SEATS FOR
Just an Illusion
JUSTANIL-0608-1930
Mon 8 Jun 7:30pm ncp
...
All tickets must be prepaid online or at the counter.
Sales are subject to our cancellation policy. No phone bookings
ncp - no complimentary passes
cap - captioned for hard of hearing
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FILM NOTES
A tender, nostalgic coming-of-age story set between childhood and everything that follows.
Set in the suburbs of Paris during the mid-1980s, Just an Illusion follows Vincent at that quietly turbulent age where everything feels uncertain and newly significant. Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache bring their familiar sensitivity to everyday lives, capturing the small, defining moments that shape how we begin to understand ourselves and others. Family tensions simmer in the background, friendships shift, and the adult world — so often assumed to be stable — reveals its own contradictions.
There’s a warmth to the film’s perspective, even as it explores confusion and change. Vincent’s story unfolds through observation rather than drama, allowing humour, awkwardness and fleeting moments of clarity to guide the experience. It’s a gentle, reflective portrait of growing up — one that recognises adolescence not as a phase to rush through, but as a space where identity begins to take shape in all its uncertainty.