Wilderness Therapy (Comedy) Caloundra Tue Night CLOSING NIGHT

Wilderness Therapy trailer HERE 

DIRECTED BY: ÉDOUARD DELUC    STARRING:  PIO MARMAÏ   PHILIPPE REBBO  CAMILLE CHAMOUX. PABLO PAULY.   OLIVIA CÔTE

COMEDY 

 96 MINS / M

This very warm comedy  set against  the stunning natural beauty of the Pyrénées is brimming with humanity, heart, and many laughs. Pio Marmaï ( Porthos in the Musketeers) stars as Ludo, an imaginative horse whisperer and riding instructor who after losing his job  must devise a new way to make a living.  And try to win back his partner. With the help of his old luckless friend, Richard (Philippe Rebbot), and a government grant, Ludo sets up a social enterprise in outdoor adventure tours. It becomes a wellness exercise and a return to nature. The excercise quickly goes south and is anything but thearapuetic. 

As so often in French cinema, one of the things that also makes this film so appealing is its variety of lifelike characters and the specific stresses they place on the aspiring adventure guides: from a sulky teen and his browbeaten father to a self-important television actress, Agnès (Camille Chamoux), and a participant, Jonas (Pablo Pauly), on the tour only to shield his partner, (Délia Espinat-Dief), against the attentions of potential rivals for his affection.  

One disaster after another ignites tensions among the group and with their guides and Ludo and Richard are looking at a life on the dole after another adventure seemingly gone wrong. As must, things comes surprisingly right in the most unexpected of ways. There is also some 'magic' that cannot be explained which adds to goodwill that turns it all around.   The film also works as it  doesn't shy away from touching on contemporary social and economic issues that give it some gravity too. 

Bringing to the role of the resourceful Ludo a versatility that has served him through a variety of genres, Pio Marmaï clearly stars in Wilderness Therapy, but it is easy to see why Philippe Rebbot (Richard) too is in such high demand. Director Edouard Deluc (Gauguin) used him in that film and he has a rich list of credits. 

Every comic duo needs to offset each other

The support cast also features Olivia Cote from Two Tickets To Greece who is a brave actress with a broad range. 

Best Film - Festival de la Baule 2022   “Wilderness Therapy is first and foremost an original  comedy filmed in the majestic setting of the Pyrenees.” France Review