Qui Brille au Combat (The Wonderers): Joséphine Japy films deeply personal moments without pathos

Previously known for her nuanced roles in films by Dominik Moll (Le Moine (The Monk), 2011) and Hugo Gélin (Mon inconnue (Love at Second Sight), 2019), Joséphine Japy is taking a major step forward in her career at just 30 years old with Qui brille au combat (The Wonderers), her first feature film. For the actress, this is the fulfillment of a long-harbored desire to move to filmmaking after inheriting her father’s love for the seventh art.

Co-written with Olivier Torres, the film is inspired by her own family story, particularly her relationship with her sister who suffers from Phelan-McDermid syndrome. Qui brille au combat (The Wonderers) follows the journey of Marion (Angelina Woreth), a teenager on the brink of adulthood, torn between her unconditional love for Bertille (Sarah Pachoud) who is suffering from a genetic disease, and her own overwhelming need for emancipation.

To steer away from sentimental drama, the director explains her deliberate decision to center the narrative on “the intimate portrayal and raw emotions” of her characters, filming their bodies and long silences without any stylistic effects. “I wanted a film that was discreet but didn’t look away,” she reveals, taking an unflinching look at the reality of disability.

Shot in 1.66 format, Qui brille au combat (The Wonderers) also talks about the mental load, loneliness, and sense of despair that weigh on the rest of the family—both the parents, portrayed on screen by Mélanie Laurent and Pierre-Yves Cardinal, and the family caregivers. “I wanted to convey the love, exhaustion, and guilt, but also the light that can emerge from the daily struggle,” explains the director, who candidly lays bare her inner pain.