JUST AN ILLUSION

(Juste une illusion)

West Coast Premiere | France | 2026 | Comedy, Drama, Coming of age | 119 min | In French with English subtitles

Directed by: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano
Written by: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano, Nathalie Hertzberg
Produced by: Nicolas Duval Adassovsky (Quad), Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano (Ten Cinéma), Gaumont, TF1 Films Production
Cinematography: Augustin Barbaroux
Original Score: Gogo Penguin
Film Editing: Dorian Rigal-Ansous
Cast: Camille Cottin (Sandrine Dayan), Louis Garrel (Yves Dayan), Pierre Lottin (Étienne Berger), Simon Boublil (Vincent Dayan), Alexis Rosenstiehl (Arnaud Dayan) Jeanne Lamartine (Anne-Karine Duchesnay), Rony Kramer (the rabbi), Adèle Jayle (Mrs. Duchesnay), François Raison (Mr. Duschesnais), Giorgia Sinicorni (Mrs Bernini / Laure), Augusto Fornari (Mr. Bernini)
International Sales: Gaumont
US Distributor: Menemsha Films
US Release Date: TBA

Synopsis

“So, are we French? Jewish? African? Why are we on earth?” Thirteen-years-old and preparing for his bar mitzvah, Vincent is struggling to make sense of life, love and his place in the world. The year is 1985 and his bickering middle-class parents are too busy, trying to make ends meet, to have all the answers. The dynamic Nakache–Toledano duo is back, this time with their most personal film to date, and, as always, one with genuine laughs and lots of heart — a pitch-perfect coming-of-age tale and a breathtaking tribute to family, however crazy it may be, and the ocean of love that lies just below the pandemonium. 

directors’ bio

Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano are the savvy, multi-award-winning creators of the mega-hit comedy, The Intouchables (COLCOA 2012), the third-highest-grossing film of all time in France. Childhood friends, the twosome began their careers co-writing and co-directing several shorts, followed by a growing list of feature films, including Let’s Be Friends (COLCOA 2005); Those Happy Days (COLCOA 2006); Tellement proches (COLCOA 2009); Samba (COLCOA 2015); C’est la Vie! (COLCOA 2018), which received a whopping 10 César nominations; The Specials (2019); and A Difficult Year (TAFFF 2023).  Nakache and Toledano were also showrunners on the Arte series In Treatment (COLCOA 2021) and enjoy a very special relationship with COLCOA/TAFFF, where they were first introduced to American audiences in 2006. Since that time, the festival has proudly premiered almost every one of their films. Just an Illusion premiered in San Sebastián and is dedicated to the filmmakers’ respective fathers, who each passed away during the film’s production. A fitting tribute, given this film’s heartfelt familial themes.