teenaged rebellion takes many forms but seldom does it involve wanting to really work . Instead of getting into trouble with his friends or stagnate about his parents ’ glass - wall villa , 16 - year - quondam Enzo ( Eloy Pohu ) drop his days mixing concrete and laying roofing tile with world beyond his old age . InEnzo , the opening photographic film for Cannes Directors ’ Fortnight , desire boil under the aerofoil of its rubric lineament as he estimate out his place in the world and his complicated feel for his coworker Vlad ( Maksym Slivinskyi ) , a Ukranian man escaping his war - pluck res publica .

Enzo Underscores Its Titular Character’s Complexities

There ’s a quiet fury hiding under the control surface ofEnzo , but the film does n’t tap cataclysm or despair to get its message across . It ’s quieter in nature , reflective of the character at the center , a boy of few words whose expression barely hints at the complex feelings of juvenility that are constantly evolving .

More than anything , Enzo need to be accept by his expression worker colleagues , brush off his begetter ’s concern for his well - being as his mother dotes on him regardless . Both of Enzo ’s parents are rather slack in their mental attitude towards life . His female parent does n’t bat an eye when she comes home to find Enzo swimming with a girl in their pond . His Fatherhood only becomes serious when he ’s advertize Enzo to follow artistry school or some other pedantic attempt , skills he sees as much more useful than the ones Enzo is developing .

Enzois subtle in its scrutiny of queer desire , understanding that quick glances and soft touch can be just as sensual …

Charles Melton holding a rifle and looking serious in Warfare

And then there ’s Vlad — all tight muscles and tan pelt — who have Enzo under his wing . He show him pictures of girl on his phone and invites Enzo out to the club with his other Ukranian Quaker . Even though the bouncer does n’t even permit him in , Enzo declares it “ the best Nox of [ his ] lifetime . ”

Enzo ’s tone for Vlad are much more complex than just the ones colleagues share . He is inexplicably drawn to the man , maybe because Vlad treats Enzo like one , rather than like the youngster his parent treat him as . Vlad also does n’t call into question Enzo ’s desire to do building work , even when he come up out that he need n’t raise a finger to make a living .

Enzois subtle in its examination of queer desire , understand that warm glances and soft touch can be just as sensual — and even more effective — as anything intense . There ’s plenty of homoerotic tension but it ’s underscored by Enzo ’s overarching maturation that goes far beyond just his sexual identicalness .

Two grandmas cooking in Nonnas

Eloy Pohu ’s subtle ticks imbue Enzo with a sense of existent indecisiveness coupled with the certitude of a 16 - year - old male child .

One gets the sense that Enzo ’s parents , played by Pierfrancesco Favino and Élodie Bouchez , would n’t heed if he came out , piddle his stride all the more tangible . Sometimes the pressure we feel is ego - impose , create not by the people around us but by the voice in our heads pulling us in unlike focussing . Enzo faces plenty of extraneous pressing , peculiarly from his father and his buddy Victor who , in the background of the movie , is often canvass , before a terminal confrontation takes shoes at a celebration for Victor ’s admittance into a Parisian college .

But the pressure Enzo puts on himself is what ’s get him to taciturnly fall asunder . Eloy Pohu ’s subtle ticks — the way he brushes off his parents , steals a coup d’oeil , or contemplates a spur - of - the - moment decision — imbue Enzo with a sense of real indecision coupled with the certitude of a 16 - twelvemonth - older boy . It ’s a tricky balancing bit , one the young thespian pulls off graciously .

Super Sonic and Super Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with an explosion behind them

Enzois the final quislingism between film director Robin Campillo and co - author Laurent Cantet , the latter of whom go of cancer in April 2024 before production on the photographic film could commence . Campillo honor his collaborator with this feature of speech , which use the backdrop of insurrection to look at stress between arithmetic mean and reality , landing on an graceful but subtle note that is both hopeful and bracingly literal in its view .

Enzopremiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival .

Enzo , 16 , defy his bourgeois sept ’s expectation by start out a Freemasonry apprenticeship , a course far removed from the prestigious life they had envisioned for him . In their voguish villa in the sun - drenched South of France , tensions simmer as relentless interrogation and insistency weigh on Enzo ’s futurity and dream . On the structure sites , however , Vlad , a charismatic Ukrainian colleague , shakes up Enzo ’s domain and opens the room access to unexpected possibleness .

Enzo still

Enzo

Enzo, 16, defies his bourgeois family’s expectations by starting a masonry apprenticeship, a path far removed from the prestigious life they had envisioned for him. In their chic villa in the sun-drenched South of France, tensions simmer as relentless questions and pressures weigh on Enzo’s future and dreams. On the construction sites, however, Vlad, a charismatic Ukrainian colleague, shakes up Enzo’s world and opens the door to unexpected possibilities.

Cannes Film Festival