Following Portrait of a Lady on Fire, one might have expected Céline Sciamma to up her scale but instead, during the pandemic, she focused on a story with a smaller scope but is no less ambitious. Petite Maman, a tender, enchanting story about friendship, childhood, and mother-daughter connection, is perhaps her best film. Now set for a U.S. release from NEON beginning April 22, with a wide expansion a few weeks later on Mothers Day weekend, the new trailer and poster have arrived.
Orla Smith said in our Berlinale review, “After the ambitious and wildly popular Portrait of a Lady on Fire shot Céline Sciamma into the arthouse stratosphere, she has returned with her fifth feature, Petite Maman, a warm and contained film whose scale is more akin to Tomboy. The mighty hype from Sciamma fans anticipating the film’s Berlinale premiere may be too much to bear for this delicate, low-key film. Of course it’s as impeccably directed and carefully structured as we’ve come to expect from Sciamma. But it’s more of a slow simmer than Portrait’s fiery blaze. Beware instantaneous hot takes: this is a modest work, one to sit with and chew over, one to look back on fondly after letting it percolate.”
See the trailer below.
Petite Maman opens on April 22 and goes wide on Mothers Day weekend.