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THE LOST BOYS OF MERCURY
LE OUBLIÉS DE LA BELLE ÉTOILE
France | 2023 | 106 min
Three elderly men reunite in a country house close to Albertville, in the French Savoie. Michel has fixed an abundant meal and they sit together at the table to enjoy a nice sunny day. But that which seems an idyllic reunion of old friends eager to share their fooleries becomes a painful journey back in time. Like other children, they had been placed in the correctional centre for boys in Mercury, Departmental Directorate of Sanitary and Social Affairs, which was managed by an abbot of the Catholic Church. Their childhood there turned into a longtime hidden nightmare. In Clémence Davigo’s magnificent, deeply empathetic documentary, the group confesses openly for the first time, disclosing the darkest recesses of a harrowing past and unveiling traumas beyond repair that marked their life, preventing them to live it fully. (a.s.)