Book of Joy

Original title: Selon Joy
Year: 2024
Language: French
Available subtitles: English
Genre: Romantic Drama, Crime Drama
Country: France
Runtime: 86 min
Status: Released

Joy is an orphan who lives her faith with intensity and almost never leaves her church. Until the day she meets Andriy, a young man who gets beaten up in front of her. Soon, she becomes convinced their paths were meant to cross.

Starring Asia Argento and newcomer Sonia Bonny, Book of Joy is an unconventional love story mixed with elements of film noir with striking atmosphere, religious and social motives. It is the first film by talented French director Camille Lugan who wanted to make a film that is “both mystical and sensual, which would translate on screen through bodies rather than language” as she explained.

Director: Camille Lugan
Screenplay:   Camille Lugan, Salvatore Lista
Cinematography: Victor Zébo
Editing: Grégoire Pontécaille
Music: Rémi Boubal 
Sound: Gaël Eléon, Alexandre Hecker, Simon Apostolou
Production Design: Judith Abitbol
Art Director: Armelle Rabaté
Producer: Saïd Hamich Benlarbi
Production: Barney production 
Cast: Sonia Bonny (Joy), Volodymyr Zhdanov (Andriy), Raphaël Thiéry (Père Léonard), Asia Argento (Mater)

Festivals
Venice Film Festival - Giornate Degli Autori // Goeteborg Film Festival
 

Reviews

“truly unconventional coming-of-age story, following our protagonist as she navigates that awkward space between late adolescence and early adulthood” ICS Film
 

“a truly original voice” Cineuropa