With his debut film, director Leonardo van Dijl delivers an excellently crafted psychological drama in Julie Keeps Quiet, which follows the point of view of a young athlete in crisis.

Julie is a high school tennis prodigy who attends an elite tennis academy. She’s a disciplined, dedicated athlete whose life revolves around the game she loves.

But when the academy’s previous star player tragically takes her own life, her world is thrown into disarray. The head coach – Julie’s coach – is suspended, pending an investigation for inappropriate behaviour, which turns everyone’s attention to Julie as they worry over the closeness of her relationship with her coach.

The film closely follows Julie’s journey as she navigates her feelings, slowly digesting the news as she comes to terms with her own relationship and experience with her coach.

Intimately shot by cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis (I, Tonya, Cruella), the film is an intricate study in cinematic tension; a taut, delicate exploration of a character’s inner world and emotional turmoil as she quietly reckons with what has happened, and what to do next.

While Van Dijl focuses on Julie’s experience, the film questions the systemic failures of institutions that prioritise achievement and success above all else, creating a toxic culture that enables abuses of power to take place.

Julie’s refusal to speak is a silent protest against the superficial actions taken by those in power too late, forcing them to acknowledge their own culpability.

‘It may be a challenge to depict the struggles of a character so committed to not talking about their problems, but van Dijl and Van den Broeck take a remarkably subtle approach to tell Julie’s story.’ RogerEbert ★★★☆

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