At the threshold of life and death, will she take a bite into eternal youth?
17-year-old Françoise (Léonie Dahan-Lamort) believes in what her dreams and pendulum tells her; tonight, will be her last. She fearlessly accepts the omen. With her friend Delphine, she escapes from their catholic boarding school to attend an eerie costumed party. There, she meets 200-year-old Christophe (Maxime Rohart).
Romain de Saint-Blanquat’s debut feature takes on some of the classic and beloved fairy tale tropes, such as the Red Riding Hood coming of age themes of the threshold between childhood and adulthood. There are hints of giallo - Suspiria (1977) comes to mind of course - dashes of moonlit sensuality and even edgy sexuality, touches of Jean Rollin’s gothic fantasies, but it most certainly echoes above all the morbid satanist teen duo in the jarring Joël Séria cult classic Don't Deliver Us from Evil (1971). World premiered at the prestigious Locarno festival, Bitten is tender, enchanting and melancholic.
