Zero Fucks Given (French: Rien à foutre) is a 2021 comedy-drama film directed by Emmanuel Marre and Julie Lecoustre. The film stars Adèle Exarchopoulos. It screened in the Critics' Week section at the 74th Cannes Film Festival on 11 July 2021. It was released in France on 2 March 2022.

Zero Fucks Given
French theatrical release poster
FrenchRien à foutre
Directed by
  • Emmanuel Marre
  • Julie Lecoustre
Written by
  • Emmanuel Marre
  • Julie Lecoustre
  • Mariette Désert
Produced by
  • François-Pierre Clavel
  • Benoit Roland
StarringAdèle Exarchopoulos
CinematographyOlivier Boonjing
Edited byNicolas Rumpl
Production
companies
  • Wrong Men North
  • Kidam
Distributed by
  • Condor (France)
  • Cinéart (Belgium)
Release dates
  • 11 July 2021 (2021-07-11) (Cannes)
  • 2 March 2022 (2022-03-02) (France)
  • 16 March 2022 (2022-03-16) (Belgium)
Running time
115 minutes[1]
Countries
  • France
  • Belgium
Languages
  • French
  • English
Budget
  • 2 million[2]
  • (est. $2.1 million)
Box office$1 million[1]

Plot

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Cassandre is a 26-year-old flight attendant for a low-cost carrier based in Lanzarote. With little thought to her future and no desire to establish meaningful connections, she lives day-to-day, drifting through work, living together with the staff on call, partying in nightclubs, and having brief, mediocre encounters with strangers from dating apps. Though she is intentionally distant and aloof from most people, treating her well-meaning and inviting roommates with the same cordial distance she treats passengers, she does reveal a recent tragedy to a co-worker: her mother died in a roundabout car accident, and she subsequently left her father, sister, and family business behind in Huy to turn her back on her past and avoid facing the reality of her loss and grief.

Cassandre is highly committed to her job and tolerates her pushy, micro-managing boss, and despite her relaxed attitude toward her goals, she constantly exceeds her sales quotas and one day hopes to move to a better airline with better destinations. Eventually, Cassandre learns that her contract is expiring. Though she has no desire to be promoted or have further responsibility, the only available positions require her to train to become a cabin manager. Afterwards, her cell phone carrier's customer service department calls her after noticing that most of her data is used abroad and suggests that she upgrade to an international plan. Since Cassandre's mother owned the cell phone plan, upgrading forces her to terminate her mother's phone line in order to establish a new plan, something that briefly breaks her stoic composure as she is forced to acknowledge and be reminded of her mother's death.

While undergoing cabin manager training, Cassandre is exhorted to take the lessons seriously, and she consciously applies what she's learned to her ensuing work as a cabin manager. She subsequently experiences gradual, conscious improvements with her work ethic, her relationship with her co-workers, and her connection with her passengers. Unfortunately, this puts her at odds with her manager, who punishes her for rating her crew too highly during self-assessments during subpar sales periods (yet also blaming her when she explains unavoidable, mitigating circumstances). Later, Cassandre respects the training instruction to treat passengers with humanism and empathy, and personally purchases a drink for a passenger who is crying while leaving her country and young children for the first time to undergo a serious operation. As this goes against company policy, her manager grounds her from flights and puts her on indefinite dismissal.

Essentially laid off, Cassandre finally returns home to her father and sister, who have little regard for her line of work. She is similarly disconnected from her old friends, who question the appeal of her lifestyle when she establishes and maintains no connections with others. Her sister informs her that their father has not given up his attempts to pursue a lawsuit regarding their mother's death, even though his appeals are repeatedly denied due to the fact that the victim was speeding and therefore found at-fault. Later, she interviews for a private jet company in Dubai that an old colleague had recommended, only for the interview to become increasingly demeaning and objectifying, though Cassandre takes the discomfort in stride and does not react when the interviewer suggests that her lack of social connections is what makes her a great fit for the role.

Cassandre spends an evening bonding with her family over memories of childhood and her parents' love story. The next day, her father consents to destroying his wife's totaled car, and Cassandre visits the site of the fatal accident, which gives the family closure regarding her death. Cassandre travels to Dubai, where she watches The Dubai Fountain with other tourists under social distancing guidelines.

Cast

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  • Adèle Exarchopoulos as Cassandre
  • Mara Taquin as Melissa
  • Alexandre Perrier as Jean
  • Arthur Egloff as Arthur
  • Tamara Al Saadi as Dounia
  • David Martinez Pinon as base supervisor
  • Marianna Masala as Wing hostess
  • Blanche Vieillevoye as Wing hostess
  • Veroline Vanderbeek as check-in counter passenger
  • Bart Dezdari as Amant Varsovie
  • Agnieszka Kozaczewska as trainer
  • Erwan Maillot as Wing purser
  • Jonathon Sawdon as English passenger
  • Alessandro Duca as Melissa's boyfriend
  • Jean-Benoît Ugeux as breakage expert
  • Julie Sokolowski as Cassandre's Belgian friend

Release

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Zero Fucks Given was selected to be screened in the Critics' Week section at the 74th Cannes Film Festival,[3] where it had its world premiere on 11 July 2021.[4] It was released theatrically in France on 2 March 2022 by Condor and in Belgium on 16 March 2022 by Cinéart.[5][6]

Reception

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Box office

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Zero Fucks Given grossed $23,951 in Italy, $17,969 in Colombia and $966,168 in France for a worldwide total of $1 million,[1] against an estimated production budget of $2.1 million.[2]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "With bleak humor, Adèle Exarchopoulos takes us on an airborne Zero Fucks Given tour as she tries to outrun grief subconsciously propelled by her desire to live."[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[8]

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter praised Marre and Lecoustre's depiction of Cassandre's "ruthless hyper-[capitalist]" working life and commended Exarchopoulos's performance, writing, "Even when we're stuck with Cassandre in the same routine, the film remains engrossing because of how committed Exarchopoulos is to her role, putting on way too much makeup so she can resemble the perfect Wing stewardess."[9]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival 15 July 2021 Gan Foundation Award for Distribution Condor Won [10][11]
Critics' Week Nespresso Grand Prize Emmanuel Marre, Julie Lecoustre Nominated [3]
17 July 2021 Caméra d'Or Emmanuel Marre, Julie Lecoustre Nominated [12]
César Awards 24 February 2023 Best Actress Adèle Exarchopoulos Nominated [13]
Lumières Award 16 January 2023 Best International Co-Production Zero Fucks Given Nominated [14]
Magritte Awards 4 March 2023 Best Film Nominated [15]
Best Director Emmanuel Marre, Julie Lecoustre Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Mara Taquin Nominated
Best Screenplay Emmanuel Marre, Julie Lecoustre Nominated
Best First Feature Film Emmanuel Marre, Julie Lecoustre Won
Best Cinematography Olivier Boonjing Nominated
Best Production Design Anna Falguères Nominated
Best Costume Design Prunelle Rulens Won
Best Editing Nicolas Rumpl Won

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Zero Fucks Given (2021)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Rien à foutre (Zero Fucks Given) (2022)". JP Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Cannes 2021 : découvrez la sélection de la Semaine de la critique". Trois Couleurs (in French). 7 June 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  4. ^ "The Screenings Guide 2021" (PDF). Cannes Film Festival. p. 11. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Rien à foutre, Viens, je t'emmène, Robuste... : les sorties ciné de la semaine" (in French). CNC. 2 March 2022. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Rien à foutre" (in French). Cinéart. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Zero Fucks Given". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Zero F*cks Given". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  9. ^ Mintzer, Jordan (13 July 2021). "'Zero F***s Given' ('Rien à foutre'): Film Review | Cannes 2022". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Le Prix à la Diffusion de la Fondation remis au film RIEN À FOUTRE". Fondation Gan pour le Cinéma (in French). 14 July 2021. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Cannes 2021 : Palmarès de la Semaine de la Critique : Feathers, Amparo, Rien à foutre, Olga..." Première (in French). 15 July 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2023. ...hier à 18h a eu lieu la cérémonie remise des prix de cette section du 74e festival de Cannes.
  12. ^ "The actress Mélanie Thierry, President of the Camera d'or Jury". Cannes Film Festival. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  13. ^ Jamet, Constance (25 January 2023). "César: La Nuit du 12, En Corps, L'Innocent, en tête des nominations". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Lumières 2023 : "La Nuit du 12", "Pacifiction", "Saint Omer" et "Les Enfants des autres" en tête des nominations" (in French). France Info. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  15. ^ Bradfer, Fabienne (10 February 2023). "Close arrive en tête des nominations des Magritte 2023". Le Soir (in French). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
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