The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
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The Path of Excellence
Drama · 2023
Sophie is a brilliant student. Encouraged by her maths teacher, she leaves the family farm to attend a science preparatory class. Between new encounters, successes and failures, and faced with fierce competition, Sophie realizes that her dream of joining the Polytechnique represents more than an entrance examination but a true challenge of social climbing.
Movie details
The Path of Excellence
2023 Drama 1h 47m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.2 / 10
Community rating
Sophie is a brilliant student. Encouraged by her maths teacher, she leaves the family farm to attend a science preparatory class. Between new encounters, successes and failures, and faced with fierce competition, Sophie realizes that her dream of joining the Polytechnique represents more than an entrance examination but a true challenge of social climbing.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Path of Excellence?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Darling
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Darling is a woman of today. It seems to always choose the wrong path. Suffers but does not look like a victim. Do not feel sorry for herself. On the contrary, shows a passion for life against all odds. She is struggling to exist. If you fall, get up. Because Darling is naive and fearless, brave and instinctive. Has the life force of a tragic heroine.
Chaos
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Wild Diamond
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Liane, 19 years old, daring and fiery, lives with her mother and little sister under the dusty sun of Fréjus in the South of France. Obsessed with beauty and the need to become “someone”, she sees reality TV as her opportunity to be loved... Fate smiles upon her when she auditions for “Miracle Island”.
Hadewijch
Drama · 2009
A troubled young woman is thrown out of a convent and forms a relationship with a radical Muslim.
Moka
Drama · 2016
Diane Kramer is led by one obsession: to find the driver of the mocha color Mercedes which hit her son and devastated her life. With a few belongings, some money and a gun, she goes to Evian, where she's learned the driver lives.
Young Mothers
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Housed in a shelter for young mothers, Jessica, Perla, Julia, Ariane, and Naïma, all of whom have grown up in difficult circumstances, struggle to obtain a better life for themselves and their children.
Red Soil
Drama · 2021
Freshly hired as a labor nurse in a chemical factory, Nour discovers that small arrangements exist between management and her father, Slimane, the staff representative, and the company's pivot. Lies about polluting discharges, hidden illnesses of employees, hidden accidents ... Nour, little by little, no longer accepts the compromises of his father to preserve the image of the company. She decides to launch the alert.
The Passengers of the Night
Drama · 2022
On election night in 1981, celebrations spill out onto the street and there is an air of hope and change throughout Paris. But for Elisabeth, her marriage is coming to an end and she will now have to support herself and her two teenage children. She finds work at a late-night radio show and encounters a troubled teenager named Talulah whom she invites into her home.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Frédéric Mermoud
Written by
Frédéric Mermoud · Anton Likiernik · Salvatore Lista
Suzanne Jouannet
Sophie Vasseur
Marie Colomb
Diane Le Goff
Cyril Metzger
Laurent Vasseur
Marilyne Canto
Caroline Vasseur
Maud Wyler
Claire Fresnel
Lorenzo Lefèbvre
Hadrien Loiseau
Antoine Chappey
Gérard Vasseur
Court is in session
Put The Path of Excellence on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.