The Holidays: Geraldine Nakache leaves comedy for this gripping thriller

Geraldine Nakache registry change. After starring in and directing comedies, the actor stars in the dramatic thriller Vacances this Wednesday.

In this first feature film by Beatrice de Stael and Leo Wolfenstein, Geraldine Nakache stars as Marie, a mother who takes her children on vacation for the first time. One evening, lost, she finds herself seduced by a strange and charming young man who slowly lures her into his trap. Then begins a night that turns into a nightmare for him…

The paradox of motherhood

Actress Beatrice de Stael, who also stars in the film, wanted to step outside the camera by becoming a mother. The latter explains in the film’s press kit: “I clung to this mystery, which was the joy of having children mixed with the pain of being with children all the time.

I wanted to write about this paradox of motherhood. I imagined a whole series from this topic: if mother met such and such? What if the meeting had such consequences?“

The latter presents here the character of a loving and at the same time toxic mother. He explains: “No matter what she does, her mother is not doing well, or rather, Marie does not feel like a good mother. She doesn’t know how to swim, she can’t drive a car well, she’s afraid of everything… she’s not so humble about herself, she doesn’t accept her husband’s help either.

She is in an intense moment of frustrated desire for a man because her husband is not there. He is locked up with his children and obviously does not trust them with anything. The mother is a moving character with secrets, and in this film we see her unraveling her secrets.“

And to embody this mother, Beatrice de Stael and Leo Wolfenstein chose Geraldine Nakache.

The actor and director, more accustomed to comedies, had time to think before accepting the role of Mari. Beatrice de Stael explains:When he read the script, he was scared. And once she said yes, he left. Geraldine is a young mother herself and this character really spoke to her.

And then he’s funny in the movies, but he’s quite serious in life, so I felt it suited the role. He invented Marie, who would sometimes run away and take me. I was glad that this actor portrayed the character with so much truth and emotion..”

Presented in the First Dates category of the Angoulême Francophonie Film Festival, Vacances is thus a turning point in Géraldine Nakache’s career.

He can next be found in Béatrice Pollet’s legal drama Toi non plus tu n’as rien vu (March 8, 2023), Ronan Tronchot’s father drama Le Cours de la vie (May 3, 2023) alongside Agnes Jau and Jonathan Zakai And I’m No Hero, for which he shares the bill with Vincent Dédien and Clemens Poesy.