Many screenwriters will complain that they had a great script…until a director put their hands on it. And that’s why these scribes will eventually step behind the camera themselves, to ensure what they put down on the page, turns out the way they expect on the big screen. Not every transition from writer to director is a success, but Thomas Bidegain, a regular collaborator with Jacques Audiard (“A Prophet,” “Rust and Bone,” “Dheepan“), gets out of the gate strong with his César-nominated directorial debut “Les Cowboys.”
Starring François Damiens, Agathe Dronne, Iliana Zabeth, and Finnegan Oldfield, and also featuring John C. Reilly, the story revolves a man who searches for his missing daughter, only to discover her disappearance has larger cultural implications. Here’s the official synopsis:
Set amidst a sub-culture of Western enthusiasts in rural France, Alain (François Damiens) attends a cowboy fair with his wife (Agathe Dronne) and children—sixteen-year-old daughter, Kelly (Iliana Zabeth), and young son, Kid (Finnegan Oldfield). When Kelly disappears amidst the chaos of the festivities, Alain’s initial fear quickly turns to anger and disbelief as it becomes increasingly clear that his daughter has willingly abandoned her life to begin anew as a Muslim with her boyfriend. Convinced that she was coerced, Alain devotes what’s left of his broken existence to finding her, eventually bestowing the responsibility of the search onto his son.
“Les Cowboys” will open in limited release on June 24th.
