Memento boards Fabrice du Welz’s Locarno title 'Adoration'; first look (exclusive)

Memento Films International has boarded sales on Belgian director Fabrice du Welz’s thriller Adoration ahead of its premiere on the Locarno Film Festival’s Piazza Grande in August.

It is the final film in du Welz’s Ardennes trilogy set against the backdrop of the rugged, forested region spanning southeast Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany.

It revolves around a crazed and destructive love story between two teenagers who meet at a psychiatric hospital and embark on a dangerous trip together.

The previous two films in the trilogy include The Ordeal (Calvaire), a horror film about a travelling entertainer whose car breaks down in a strange backwater town. It played in Cannes’ Critics’ Week in 2004.

This was followed by Alleluia which loosely transposed the real-life tale of US serial killers Raymond Martinez Fernandez and Martha Jule Beck to the Ardennes. It premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2014.

Adoration is produced by Vincent Tavier at Brussels-based Panique!, which previously worked on Alleluia, and Manuel Chiche of Paris-based distribution and production house The Jokers, which is currently enjoying box office success in France with Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.

Emerging actors Fantine Harduin, whose credits include Michael Haneke’s Happy End, and Thomas Gioria, best known as the young son in Xavier Legrand’s Custody, play the two teenagers.

Other cast members include Benoit Poelvoorde and longtime du Welz collaborator Laurent Lucas, who starred in the two previous films in the trilogy.

Imagine Film will release the film in Benelux, The Jokers will handle France and Adok Films has acquired Swiss rights.

Memento Films International manages world sales and festivals for all other territories.

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