QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM BERLIN

Directors and writers Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys underline the urge for legal reform for sex abuse cases: “delays in protecting a child can have lasting, devastating effects. Beyond systemic changes, we want to shift societal perceptions of victims’ families”, they say. After having watched the film, this hits you in the guts with full force, one cannot help but to agree.

In the film’s opening scene, 11-year-old Etienne (Ulysse Goffin) throws a tantrum in the middle of the street in plain daylight. “What a brat”, is the first thought some viewers may have. The second likely judgement (“be more determined”!) is aimed at the Alice (Myriem Akheddiou), a single mum desperately fighting for air. She has repeatedly failed to convince the child to board the coach. His teenage sister Lila (Adèle Pinckaers) intervenes and they eventually take the second coach.

These children are being dragged to the court for the umpteenth time, where mum and dad are engaging in a fierce battle. They have to give the same statement over and over again, thereby reliving the traumatic events of the past. Their father (Laurent Capelluto, one of the most recognisable faces of Belgian cinema in the present) sexually abused one of them. The court hearing consists of one uninterrupted 55-minute take, relying heavily on interplay between professional and amateur actors. Prolonged close-ups of Alice accentuate her exasperation and pain, crafting a very tense atmosphere.

The big-screen courtroom dramas are returning into fashion, and things look good in that department. We Believe You is shot on a shoestring budget and not polished in the same manner as Marco Bellochio’s The Traitor (2019) or Justine Triet’s Palme d’ Or winner Anatomy of A Fall (2023). This is a not a film made for entertaining. It does not offer a thriller element. Instead, it has a certain documentary touch. That’s because it uses three fixed cameras, strategically positioned inside the courtroom where the action takes place, and it strongly relies on close-ups.

The script is based on Deviller’s experience as a nurse, combined with the meticulous research. The directorial duo attended numerous hearings together and looked into the court mechanisms. To round it up, they cast real-life lawyers alongside professional actors, which gives the film a final touch of authenticity. In the case of We Believe You, this proves to be the ideal constellation. The only “intruder” in the cast of law and justice professionals is the judge, played by experienced Belgian actress Natali Broods. She prepared for the role by observing the court hearings, and by reading books written by judges about their experiences.

Lawyers slip into their known roles, stripped of visible emotions and armed with sharp but mostly measured rhetoric. They stand in strong contrast to the leads, who create a charged atmosphere.

The photography is almost drained of colour when the gaze turns to the tormented. Akheddiou impersonates a woman on the brink of a nervous breakdown. She is truly outstanding. She has been tortured by the system, and she is terrified at the prospect of a harmful outcome (one allowing her ex-husband to come into close contact with their children). Capelutto too is brilliant. He slips into the skin of a father in denial of atrocious crime against his own son. A painfully dry and real film experience.

We Believe You just its world premiere in Perspectives, the brand new competitive strand of the Berlinale.