‘Garance’ Review: Jeanne Herry’s Underwhelming Alcoholic Actress Vehicle Deters the Turbulently Brilliant Adèle Exarchopoulos [C] Cannes

Let’s talk about Adèle Exarchopoulos.

The French actress radiates gruff, battle-worn elegance which often conceals a bleeding vulnerability until the moment arises where she can expose it and snatch your breath away. That turbulent brilliance, as Shirley MacLaine once described Debra Winger, has powered some brilliant work, from Blue is the Warmest Color to Passages. 

In theory, Garance would be the perfect vehicle for Exarchopoulos to demonstrate her ferocious gifts. Director Jeanne Herry casts her as Garance, a fledgling stage actress in Paris. She is undeniably gifted, but her talent is in constant battle with her barely-controlled alcoholism. She refuses to seek help, which leads her down a circular, progressively crumbling path of performances and partying. The path ultimately has to end somewhere, but where? Does Garance end up on the red carpet at the Palais de Festivals, or in a dank alley somewhere?

In truth, Garance is less of a crumbling path than a hamster wheel of self-destruction. Herry has Excharpoulos scurrying through a murderer’s row of club kid chaos: brutal hangovers, lost memories, cuts and bruises, and allusions to sexual violence. She hardly leaves room for introspection in the first half, mimicking the dotted nature of Garance’s days and nights with short scenes and abrupt cuts. The purpose is thematically clear but muddies who she is to us. It’s clear that she has some innate creative gift that explains why her theater colleagues put up with her behavior, but we rarely see it. The one time we do, when Garance performs a musical number for an audience of children, it’s remarkable, dazzling even. 

Unfortunately, it’s not enough. Neither is the film’s examination of Garance’s alcoholism, specifically what drives it. Garance insists several times that stopping her drinking would drive her to die by suicide. We don’t understand why. I hesitate to suggest that alcoholism or mental health issues require direct causation. However, for the film to raise the point and not follow through lessens its emotional impact. It also keeps us from truly knowing Garance, which frays our connection to her and makes it difficult to invest in her descent to rock bottom and her potential recovery (or destruction). 

If Garance does something well, it’s not taking itself too seriously. It would be easy for the film to place a traditionally grim frame around Garance’s addiction. It isn’t all grim, though, and Herry folds in plenty of comedic moments that work well. Garance’s honesty about her life, from her awkwardness to her addiction, is also refreshing, at least as a first step. In fact, her capacity for self-reflection makes the script’s refusal to dig deeper even more frustrating in hindsight. Every time it seems like it might come, like when she has an acerbic encounter with her physician, or her cancer-fighting sister Charlotte demands Garance’s focus so that her children will have a stable home, the film hedges. 

It’s a shame because Exarchopoulos is practically gasping for it. She is consistently riveting, moving across the screen with a practiced ease and confidence that aligns well with someone struggling with sobriety. She is the requisite cool girl, but underneath that glossy, disaffected façade is a roaring fire that threatens to consume her. When Garance’s acting company sacks her, Exarchopoulos ignites and dissolves as the first demonstrable consequences of her actions are put in front of her. She is equally adept at the comedy, rattling off Garance’s quips and self-deprecation with breezy charm.

Seeing Adèle Exarchopoulos act out at the height of her powers is absolutely worth it. There are certainly a handful of impactful scenes that demonstrate the breadth of her comic and dramatic skill. However, Garance frequently feels like a film of missed opportunities to take advantage of its megawatt star’s gifts and craft a character worthy of its portrayer.

Grade: C

This review is from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival where Garance had its world premiere In Competition.