Pompeii, adolescence, and Toni: Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva

Toni arrives in Pompeii carrying a story that has shaped him since childhood. His grandmother is said to have grown up in Italy and fallen madly in love with a man before an earthquake struck. Returning to the place connected to that defining story gives him the hope of finding something nourishing during the trip.

Played by Colas Quignard, Toni presents himself as a masculine gay boy in streetwear, comfortably integrated into the group and closely connected to James, his best friend. He also performs the role of the disruptive student and loudmouth, using a tough exterior to hide how vulnerable he is. Beneath that façade, he is a poor and unfocused student who feels lost and doubts that the future has much to offer him. He is secretly in love with James, who is straight, and affected by the distress of his depressed mother. Although Toni goes on Grindr, what he really needs is to be loved, held, and reassured that everything will be all right.

A journey that lets its characters unfold

At 2 hours and 25 minutes, La Gradiva gives the school trip room to exist in full. The film stays with the bus ride, the students settling in, the tiring walks, the cultural visits, and the moments when the group lets go. Its movement is central, but so is its attention to ordinary conversation and everyday behavior.

The group is led by Madame Mercier (Antonia Buresi), while three students gradually come into focus. James (Mitia Capellier-Audat) is popular and uses that position to get girls to kiss him without a second thought, sometimes behaving like a boor. Suzanne (Suzanne Gerin) is brilliant and expected to have a bright future, yet the others see her as a pain; she is unpopular, rejected, and mocked. Toni, James’s best friend, appears well integrated even as his growing melancholy becomes increasingly difficult to miss.

The distance between the supervising teacher and the students is familiar: Madame Mercier is responsible for the trip, while the young people are chiefly interested in its holiday dimension. As the days continue, some question themselves, change, confront truths, or simply drift. The shared experience can recall many school trips, but the film gradually draws its young characters into more intimate and carefully composed territory.

Between observation and cinematic composition

Marine Atlan’s direction moves between an almost documentary precision and moments that are unmistakably cinematic. The naturalistic scenes capture a lively, authentic sense of youth, while the film also pauses to probe the inner lives of its central figures. La Gradiva takes its time, allowing its characters to live and speak before bringing certain truths to the surface.

The result recalls the cinema of Mia Hansen-Løve, with a touch of Kéchiche, though without Kéchiche’s somewhat heavy intimate scenes. Atlan’s fine debut feature is both an account of a collective journey and a more composed study of adolescence. The film’s patient rhythm makes the trip feel shared: we travel with the students, watch their relationships shift, and remain attentive to the feelings they cannot easily express.

The melancholy at the heart of La Gradiva

Toni is the film’s lasting revelation. He tries to act like a man and maintain a hard front, yet he is deeply fragile. His academic difficulties do not reflect any lack of intelligence or poetry. He dreams, reaches for dreams and roots, and keeps trying to hold on even when circumstances seem to work against him.

Colas Quignard gives Toni a dazzling grace, making him impossible to forget. Through this character, La Gradiva expresses the beauty, power, and irresistible pull of adolescent melancholy. Toni’s longing, loneliness, and need for tenderness give the entire journey its deepest emotional charge.

Released in cinemas on October 21, 2026

Other melancholic gay dramas

• Le Clan
• The Blue Hour
• Diary of a Teenager