SCRUB AND RUB

(Frotter Frotter)

North American  Premiere | TV Series | France | 2025 | Drama, Comedy | 4 x 52 min | Episodes 1 & 2 | In French with English subtitles

Directed by: Marion Vernoux
Created by: Hélène Le Gal, Laure Mentzel, Mélusine Laura Raynaud
Written by: Hélène Le Gal, Laure Mentzel, Agathe Robilliard, Sandrine Gregor, Marion Vernoux
Produced by: Fabienne Servan-Schreiber, Charlotte Ortiz (Cinétévé), France Télévisions
Cinematography: Nicolas Desaintquentin
Original Score: Quentin Sirjacq
Film Editing: Widy Marché, Virginie Seguin
Cast: Eye Haïdara (Solange Diaby), Karole Rocher (Michèle Mercier), Émilie Caen (Fanny Delerme), Gringe (Vlad), Virgile Bramly (Mr Roullet), Francis Leplay (Lazare Masurel), Emma de Caunes (Valérie), Rabah Naït Oufella (Yacine Mansour)
International Sales: Film & Picture
Original Broadcasting: France 2 (February 2025)

Synopsis

Exploited, mistreated and scammed by their shady employers, a feisty group of chambermaids at a Lille hotel decide to go on strike. Based on a true story and armed with a terrific cast, the four-part miniseries SCRUB AND RUB deftly blends social realism and comic moments, depicting both the harsh reality of the lives of these unsung workers, who are often immigrants struggling to make ends meet, and the immense joy and strength they find in their solidarity and the simple act of fighting the system.

Creators’ Biographies

Director Marion Vernoux has been writing and directing films, series and TV movies for some 35 years. Her feature writing credits include Bernard Schmitt’s Pacific Palisades (1990) and Tonie Marshall’s Venus Beauty Institute (COLCOA 2000). Her directorial debut Personne ne m’aime (1994) was nominated for a César Award for Best First Feature, and her second feature, Empty Days (1999) premiered in Venice, where it won the President of the Italian Senate’s Gold Medal.

All three show runners have written extensively for television. Hélène Le Gal‘s credits include 18 episodes of the hit series Fais pas ci, fais pas ça (2011-2016). Laure Mentzel has written 3 episodes of Blame it on Rousseau (2021-2022), and scripts for TV movies Bad Seeds (2021) and Menace sur Kermadec (2022). Mélusine Laura Raynaud is credited with one episode of Germinal (COLCOA 2021) and a combined 84 episodes of the soap operas Tomorrow Is Ours (2017) and Plus belle la vie (2018-2020).