Petite Maman (2021)
88%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
6 wins & 30 nominations total
Small in narrative scope but deeply impactful, Petite Maman is a delicate, powerfully acted meditation on grief.
Petite Maman is like a warm hug from your grandma, if your grandma was a French filmmaker. It’s a beautiful and emotional journey that will make you feel all the feels. The mother-daughter relationship is explored in a unique and touching way, and the time-travel element adds a fun twist. It’s a must-see for anyone who loves a good coming-of-age story, or just wants to feel something. Bring tissues, because you will cry.
Production Company(ies)
Amazon Studios, Stay Gold Features, Kindred Spirit
Distributor
NEON
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d’Oise, France
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG for some thematic elements and brief smoking
Year of Release
2022
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 12m
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Language(s):French
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Country of origin:France
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 22, 2022 Limited
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Petite Maman, drama, French, Céline Sciamma, Bénédicte Couvreur, PG, grief, childhood, memory, connection, Nina Meurisse, Margot Abascal, Stéphane Varupenne, Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Florès Cardo, reviewed by Radheyan Simonpillai, Adam Graham, Jenny Nulf, Michael O’Sullivan, David Stratton, Mark Feeney, Marilyn Ferdinand, Jeffrey Overstreet, Sarah Ward, John Serba, Erick Estrada, directed by Céline Sciamma, written by Céline Sciamma, produced by Bénédicte Couvreur, box office gross $819.8K, flat aspect ratio, some thematic elements, brief smoking, drama genre, NEON distributor, rent/buy from $5.99
Worldwide gross: $1,678,197
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,678,197
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,457
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 183,009
US/Canada gross: $580,776
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $580,776
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,294
US/Canada opening weekend: $45,764
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $45,764
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,240
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): 2800000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $2,800,000
Production budget ranking: 1,988
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,507,800
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$2,629,603
ROI to date (est.): -61%
ROI ranking: 1,756
Margot Abascal – La grand-mère
Stéphane Varupenne – Le père
Joséphine Sanz – Nelly
Gabrielle Sanz – Marion
Florès Cardo – Dame maison de retraite
Director(s)
Céline Sciamma
Writer(s)
Céline Sciamma
Producer(s)
Bénédicte Couvreur
Film Festivals
Berlin, Cannes, Telluride, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
6 wins & 30 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (200) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (194) | Rotten (6)
A lovely and delicate lesson on processing big emotions in tiny packages.
May 6, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Radheyan Simonpillai
NOW Toronto
TOP CRITIC
This is an ethereal film that works better on an emotional level than it does a literal level; it’s a film that feels, so let yourself feel it, too. That’s the real stuff.
May 6, 2022 | Rating: B
Adam Graham
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
Petite Maman is a fine balance of heartache and whimsy.
May 5, 2022
Jenny Nulf
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
“Petite Maman” is what every film should be: powerfully, even arrestingly original; grounded in emotional truth; hyper-specific; deeply universal; strange; mesmerizing; and not a minute longer than necessary.
May 4, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
If ever a film was difficult to categorise it’s Celine Sciamma’s sublime Petite Maman.
April 29, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
David Stratton
The Australian
TOP CRITIC
It’s a thin line between prestidigitation and sham. Once that line is crossed, it’s awfully hard to get back.
April 28, 2022 | Rating: 2.5/4
Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
It is sheer genius for director Celine Sciamma, who also wrote the screenplay, to level the playing field by bringing mother and daughter together as peers to talk about the things that really matter to them.
July 2, 2022
Marilyn Ferdinand
AWFJ Women on Film
I was vividly reminded of two very special films: Doillon’s Ponette and Sayles’s The Secret of Roan Inish. The films share some unusual strengths: In all three, we follow observant and intelligent children through territory scarred with loss and sadness.
June 28, 2022 | Rating: A-
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
Now 15 years into her directorial career, Sciamma’s talent for truly seeing into hearts and minds is unshakeable, unparalleled and such a lovely wonder to watch — especially when it shines as sublimely and touchingly as it does here.
June 24, 2022
Sarah Ward
Concrete Playground
… Acknowledges the pain we feel in the wake of death, a universal notion, and renders it profoundly empathetic in its detail and specificity, and its implications about generational femininity.
June 13, 2022
John Serba
Decider
A personal celebration that turns universal for anyone who remembers the first time they called their mother by their name. And there lies the tail of this comet. [Full review in Spanish]
June 10, 2022
Erick Estrada
Cinegarage
After the extraordinary Portrait of a Lady on Fire, this bold time-travel fantasy needs fleshing out and leaves the distinct impression that delivery is off-the-cuff, despite the extent to which its subtlety makes the implausible plausible
June 7, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
Jane Freebury
The Canberra Times (Australia)…
Plot
After the death of her grandmother, 8-year-old Nelly explores her mother’s childhood home and befriends a neighbor her own age, leading to a tender tale of childhood grief, memory, and connection in Petite Maman.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Petite Maman on Fresh Kernels.
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