Yannick Vely
October 27, 2023 at 6:37 p.m., updated on October 27, 2023 at 6:40 p.m. Article reserved for subscribers
Le Consentement by Vanessa Filho, an adaptation of Vanessa Spingora’s book, is experiencing an explosion in viewership in French cinemas. A real phenomenon born on TikTok. We interviewed producer Marc Missonier.
More than 40% attendance in the second week. While the All Saints holiday is traditionally a strong source of attendance at French cinemas, the numbers for Vanessa Filho’s Consent are remarkable. This adaptation of Vanessa Springora’s very strong story, released on October 11th and starring Jean-Paul Rouve as Gabriel Matzneff and the reveal Kim Higelin, has so far seen more than 160,000 cinemagoers after 15 days of play.
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Most importantly, viewership increased 39% week over week, with an outrageous average of 382 viewers per copy. The Pan distributor had increased the number of copies very slightly – 216 compared to 195 in the first week, so the explanation is not just of an accounting nature. This Wednesday, the film tripled its 1st Wednesday results with more than 17,000 admissions this Wednesday, while increasing its average per copy and per screening. The film will be shown in more than 250 cinemas in its third week.
A phenomenon driven by TikTok
The review was shared (I really liked Paris Match, editor’s note), so it was word of mouth that worked, especially on social networks. Many young people – especially young girls – film themselves before and after the screening to show their emotions. “Some of her videos go viral, reaching a million views in just 24 hours,” said a press release from the distributor, saying that releases of the film on TikTok had garnered more than 20 million views. This virality was already observed in a weaker form in the film “Simone” and sometimes leads to the appearance of horror films with great impact. “We are very surprised, it was not a calculated strategy, even if we had aimed the communication at a young audience,” confided the film’s producer, Marc Missonnier, to Paris Match. “This new word of mouth that is created on social networks is spreading at the speed of light. “We had the same number of admissions on Wednesday as on Tuesday with 18,000 tickets sold, despite the big releases of “Three Days Max” and “Second Tour,” he notes again.
Beyond this particular and unique case in the history of the French box office, the experienced producer sees in this phenomenon a message of hope. “The topic touches her. The word consent speaks to this generation who identifies with what the young girl is going through. It’s very calming. It also brings hope for cinema. This proves that even a young audience can be touched by a hard film. Don’t be afraid to address difficult topics. As adults, we sometimes take too many precautions when we have to trust the maturity of a young audience. »
The fact that this film takes up the theme of “consent” to pedophile violence is excellent news for French auteur cinema, whose audiences are often older than average. To rejuvenate its audience, the Cannes Film Festival has partnered with the social network TikTok. Too bad the selectors skipped “consent”…