After narrowly escaping her life as a petty criminal, Anna seizes the opportunity to become a writer, only to discover that her past is not so easily left behind.
Anna Kiri, is a moody, sharply drawn coming-of-age drama that explores the tension between who we are forced to be and who we dare to become. Blending social realism with emotional introspection, the film traces a young woman’s reckoning with the violence of her past and the pull of a different future. Written by Francis Bordeleau, Valérie Chevalier, and Alexandre James-Taboureau, and directed by Bordeleau, the film moves at a deliberate pace, echoing its protagonist’s hesitant journey from chaos to self-discovery. Told through narration, journal entries, and flashes of traumatic memory, the story unfolds from Anna’s perspective. Her voice is raw, conflicted, and often poetic, revealing a deep inner life that contrasts with the criminal world she’s embedded in.
Early sequences capture her makeshift family, a group of petty criminals including her protective but volatile brother Vincent, as they carry out low-level thefts to stay afloat. But after a botched robbery leaves the group fractured and hunted, Anna is given an unlikely path forward when a stranger who turns out to be a professor finds her journal and sees something special in her words.
Catherine Brunet gives a grounded and arresting performance as Anna, embodying both her defiance and her aching vulnerability. There’s a quiet intelligence beneath the surface of her portrayal, a sense that Anna’s always been watching, absorbing, waiting for her moment. Brunet makes Anna’s evolution believable, letting us see how grief, loyalty, and longing pull her in conflicting directions. She carries the weight of someone who never chose the life she’s lived, and now must choose whether to leave it behind. Maxime de Cotret plays Vincent, Anna’s older brother, with a simmering charisma. He exudes the protective energy of someone who sees crime as both survival and status. Vincent’s vision for the future is narrower than Anna’s, but his love for his sister adds nuance to a character who could have easily been reduced to a one-note street hustler. Their bond is one of the film’s emotional anchors, making the eventual rift between them even more painful.
The film is told through a narrative lens, and a mixture of childhood flashbacks, which are hazy and golden, drenched in nostalgia and sorrow. Meanwhile, present-day scenes are cold, dimly lit, and claustrophobic. As Anna begins to imagine a life beyond crime, the visual palette shifts, lightly warmer, a little more open, though always shadowed by danger. Anna Kiri is strongest when it leans into its themes of duality, past versus present, family versus freedom, and survival versus self-expression. It explores the complexity of breaking free when everything you’ve known has taught you to stay put. The pacing may feel slow for viewers expecting action, but those attuned to character-driven drama will find a rich, layered story. Silence is used effectively, especially during key emotional scenes, giving space to Brunet’s expressions and the weight of her choices.
Anna Kiri is about a young woman trying to rewrite her story. It asks whether we can truly escape our roots, whether grief can be channeled into growth, and whether the truth on the page is enough to change a life. It tells its story with compassion, sharp direction, and a powerful lead performance. For those drawn to introspective crime dramas and emotionally resonant journeys, Anna Kiri is a compelling portrait of one woman’s fight to become someone more.
Fantasia 2025 runs from July 16th to August 3rd 2025