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Goodbye, Cruel World

Goodbye, Cruel World - image - a film by Félix de Givry
Goodbye, Cruel World - image - a film by Félix de Givry
Goodbye, Cruel World - image - a film by Félix de Givry
Goodbye, Cruel World - image - a film by Félix de Givry
Goodbye, Cruel World - image - a film by Félix de Givry
Goodbye, Cruel World - image - a film by Félix de Givry
COMING SOON FROM PALACE FILMS
Goodbye, Cruel World - poster - a film by Félix de Givry
Endearing and luminous. Feels like an enchanted fairy tale.
Beautiful. Lends the secret lives of young people – narrated in voice-over by Françoise Lebrun – the colours and settings they deserve: Bressonian nights and dreamlike white scenes in tune with their emotions, rendered all the more evocative by the 16 mm film (with stunning cinematography by Tara-Jay Bangalter.)
Achingly tender. A small but perfectly formed gem.
Beguiling. A love song for the lonely that glows like starlight.
Moving. A delicate lullaby, told with patience, tenderness and restraint.
A beautiful, bittersweet fairytale that plays like 'Moonrise Kingdom', if it were made by François Truffaut.
Gorgeous. A remarkably assured twist on a coming-of-age romance. Ends on an especially beautiful note both visually and aurally. De Givry shows great promise as a maker of intimate, humanist works.
Director: Félix de Givry
Cast: Milo Machado-Graner, Jane Beever, Françoise Lebrun, Maïa Sandoz, Emmanuelle Destremau, Erwan Kepoa Falé
Duration: 93mins
Country of Origin: France
Endearing and luminous. Feels like an enchanted fairy tale.
Beautiful. Lends the secret lives of young people – narrated in voice-over by Françoise Lebrun – the colours and settings they deserve: Bressonian nights and dreamlike white scenes in tune with their emotions, rendered all the more evocative by the 16 mm film (with stunning cinematography by Tara-Jay Bangalter.)
Achingly tender. A small but perfectly formed gem.
Beguiling. A love song for the lonely that glows like starlight.
Moving. A delicate lullaby, told with patience, tenderness and restraint.
A beautiful, bittersweet fairytale that plays like 'Moonrise Kingdom', if it were made by François Truffaut.
Gorgeous. A remarkably assured twist on a coming-of-age romance. Ends on an especially beautiful note both visually and aurally. De Givry shows great promise as a maker of intimate, humanist works.

CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION – 2026 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL (Critics’ Week)
WINNER - 2026 NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Fresh Competition)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2026 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Bright Horizons)

After starring in Mia Hansen-Love’s Eden and producing and co-writing the Oscar-nominated Arco, the multi-talented Félix de Givry makes his hugely accomplished directorial debut with this delicate and moving romantic fable following the unlikely love story between two lonely teenagers.

14-year-old idealist Otto Vidal (Anatomy of a Fall’s breakout Milo Machado-Graner) has decided he has no place in the world. After years of being bullied and humiliated, he posts farewell letters to his mother and classmates and disappears, forcing his small Normandy town to grieve a boy it believes is gone... even if he isn’t. Several nights later, Otto is recognised lurking in the town outskirts by Léna (Jane Beever), a shy classmate who, rather than give him up, impulsively chooses to shelter him in a spare room at her mother’s guesthouse. A tender, secret bond slowly grows between these two solitary teens, both hovering between childhood and the adult lives that await them...

Gently echoing the French New Wave, with dreamy Super 16mm cinematography by Tara-Jay Bangalter (son of Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter) and an original melodic score by César Award-winner Arnaud Toulon, GOODBYE, CRUEL WORLD beautifully captures the intense emotions of being young and invisible, and the tentative, transformative hope that comes when someone finally sees you.

Goodbye, Cruel World - poster - a film by Félix de Givry
COMING SOON FROM PALACE FILMS