Julie Ledru, Yanis Lafki, Dave Nsaman, Antonia Buresi
Lola Quivoron’s exhilarating debut feature is set in the motocross culture of the Paris suburbs, where a fearless female rider shakes up the boys’ club.
An independent young woman on the fringes of society, Julia (Julie Ledru, leading a mostly non-professional cast) finds an escape in her passion for motorcycles and the high-octane world of urban ‘Rodeos’ – illicit gatherings where riders show off their bikes and their latest daredevil stunts. After a chance meeting, she’s drawn into a clandestine, ultra-masculine clique, where she faces a series of escalating demands that will make or break her place in the community.
Quivoron spent years getting to know an underground community of motocross riders outside Paris (a milieu she explored in her short film Au Loin, Baltimore), and her understanding of the scene lends the film a confident, compelling authenticity. Boasting superb stunt work, a transfixing performance from Ledru and fusing together a crime drama, a character study and a soulful existential mystery, Rodeo announces the arrival of a gifted and adventurous filmmaker.
