Curling (film)

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Curling
Film poster
Directed byDenis Côté
Written byDenis Côté
Produced byDenis Côté
Stéphanie Morissette
StarringEmmanuel Bilodeau
Philomène Bilodeau
Roc Lafortune
Sophie Desmarais
CinematographyJosée Deshaies
Edited byNicolas Roy
Production
company
Nihilproductions
Distributed byMétropole Films
Release date
  • August 9, 2010 (2010-08-09)
(Locarno)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench
BudgetC$1.1 million

Curling is a 2010 Canadian drama film written and directed by Denis Côté. The film stars Emmanuel Bilodeau and Philomène Bilodeau as an isolated father and daughter living in rural Quebec. It premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, where it received awards for Best Director and Best Actor, and was later named to the Toronto International Film Festival's Canada's Top Ten list for 2010.

Synopsis

Jean-François is a single father living with his twelve-year-old daughter, Julyvonne, in rural Quebec. Overprotective and isolated, he keeps her largely apart from the outside world while working at a bowling alley and a motel. Their closed-off life is disrupted by a series of unusual events.[1][2]

Cast

The cast includes:[3][4]

  • Emmanuel Bilodeau as Jean-François Sauvageau
  • Philomène Bilodeau as Julyvonne Sauvageau
  • Roc Lafortune as Kennedy
  • Sophie Desmarais as Isabelle
  • Muriel Dutil as Odile
  • Yves Trudel as Yvan
  • Anie Pascale Robitaille as Mireille
  • Johanne Haberlin as Rosie

Production

The film was produced by Nihilproductions. It was written and directed by Denis Côté, who produced it with Stéphanie Morissette. The film was shot in Verdun from January 9 to February 6, 2010. It had a budget of C$1.1 million.[3]

Reception

Awards and nominations

The film premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, where Côté won Best Director and Emmanuel Bilodeau won Best Actor.[5][2] It was later named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual Canada's Top Ten list for 2010.[6] Curling also won the Prix AQCC-SODEC for Best Quebec Feature Film.[2]

At the 13th Jutra Awards, the film received three nominations: Best Film, Best Director for Côté and Best Actor for Bilodeau.[7] It was also nominated for Best French-Language Film at the 17th Lumière Awards in 2012.[8]

Critical response

Jean-François Rauger of Le Monde described the film as "unusually beautiful", writing that its austere realism is gradually undermined by elements of horror. He wrote that the film remained mysterious and open, without reassuring explanations, and called it "a brilliant reworking of Psycho".[9]

Andrew Schenker of Slant Magazine described it as a psychological study shaped by precise detail and a strong sense of mystery. He wrote that Côté presents the film’s world as “a series of glimpses that have to be fitted together in the viewer’s mind”.[10]

Filmdienst described the film as a compelling drama in which both the father and daughter encounter unusual events, and said that its visual language is experimental and mysterious.[4]

References

  1. "Curling". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  2. "Curling". Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  3. Ramond, Charles-Henri (October 12, 2010). "Curling – Film de Denis Côté". Films du Québec. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  4. "Curling". Filmdienst (in German). Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  5. "Denis Côté primé deux fois à Locarno". Ici Radio-Canada. August 16, 2010. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  6. "Canada's Top Ten for 2010". Now, December 15, 2010. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  7. Bailey, Patrick (March 14, 2011). "Incendies dominates Jutras". Playback.
  8. "Curling et Incendies aux prix Lumière" [Curling and Fires are at the Lumière awards]. La Presse (in French). December 19, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  9. Rauger, Jean-François (November 8, 2011). "Curling: a movie cold at heart - review". The Guardian. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  10. Schenker, Andrew (24 March 2011). "New Directors/New Films 2011: Denis Cōté's Curling". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2026.