Synopsis
Antoine has agreed to follow a writing workshop where some young people in insertion must write a black novel with the help of Olivia, a recognized novelist. The work of writing will bring to life the working-class past of the city. Its shipyard is closed for 25 years, a nostalgia that does not interest Antoine, influenced by the anxiety of the present world
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Cast
- Marina FoïsOlivia Dejazet
- Matthieu LucciAntoine
- Warda RammachMalika
- Florian BeaujeanEtienne
- Julien SouveBenjamin
- Olivier ThouretTeddy
- Issam TalbiFadi
- Mamadou DoumbiaBoubacar
- Mélissa GuilbertLola
- Charlie BardeJessica
Recommendations
- 90
Screen Daily
The Workshop conveys a stunningly authentic portrait of French youth today; their class, racial and occupational concerns. - 90
Variety
A sly, supple and repeatedly surprising collision of literary, moral and political lines of debate that marks an enthralling return to form for writer-director Laurent Cantet. - 90
The New York Times
It’s a measure of this film’s stealthy brilliance that it blurs the line between empathy and exploitation. - 80
The Guardian
It’s a film which demonstrates that debate, the exchange of ideas, can be as thrilling as any ramped up action flick. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Featuring sharp performances from Marina Fois (Polisse) and promising newcomer Matthieu Lucci, the film shows Cantet returning to form...with a story that pursues the themes of his best work while underscoring some of the issues currently facing his homeland. - 75
TheWrap
Though the film occasionally assumes the airs of a slow-burning thriller, the overall product remains a firmly intellectual exercise. - 75
RogerEbert.com
For myself, I couldn’t avoid the irony that, in finding it ultimately rather superficial and self-satisfied in that particular Parisian way, I was echoing Antoine’s criticism of Olivia’s writing. - 63
Slant Magazine
Matthieu Lucci deftly carries the weight of all the symptoms that The Workshop loads upon Antoine, a resonant character whose inscrutability is at once dangerous, sympathetic, and eerily apt.
