Ariane Labed's Olla (2019)

In movie terms, perhaps many people would associate Nevers with Alain Resnais's Hiroshima mon amour or possibly Éric Rohmer Conte d'hiver, but Ariane Labed's first movie, the twenty-seven minute Olla, is largely set in that city, and the eponymous protagonist, played by Romanna Lobach, enjoys a quiet moment in L'Église Sainte Bernadette du Banlay a few kilometres from the centre.

Olla is of east European descent, and has come to live with Pierre (Grégoire Tachnakian) after meeting him on an internet dating site. Pierre lives with his aged mother (Jenny Bellay), who is chairbound, never says anything, and is perhaps suffering from Alzheimer's disease. When Pierre is out at work, we see Olla dancing sexily in her underwear in front of the mother, masturbating in the kitchen, and charging the local guys thirty euros for a blow job and one hundred for full sex. But she shows very little or no interest in Pierre, which is hardly surprising because he has chosen – although she certainly hasn't – to unofficially Gallicise her name to Lola. But what is surprising – after Pierre decides that the only way he can get satisfaction is by raping her – is that she lights several cigarettes, puts the ashtray by the stove, turns the gas on, wheels the mother onto the pavement, and casually walks off with her the small suitcase she came with. A brilliant beginning for a film-maker.