“A Place to Heal” is an unduly sentimental English-language title title for French writer-director Cédric Kahn’s new feature, which goes internationally by the more prosaic (if outwardly cryptic) “15/18” — referring, simply, to the age bracket of the teenage residents in the psychiatric ward where most of the drama is confined. It’s a place to be treated, certainly, but for many of these nervy, damaged adolescents, healing is hard to come by, and the film does little to soften or idealize their plight. Following the 2023 double-shot of his taut legal drama “The Goldman Case” and playful industry satire “Making Of,” Kahn’s latest finds him working in the unfussily humane mode of 2017’s “The Prayer,” keeping the filmmaking simple while counting on the vibrant spontaneity of his mostly inexperienced young ensemble for fireworks.
The result recalls Laurent Cantet’s comparably documentary-styled, youth-focused “The Class,” or the more rigorous work of Belgium’s Dardenne brothers — at least until a final act that briefly and rather poignantly makes a break for more romanticized fiction. That unexpected swerve may divide audiences, though it’s a welcome rogue instinct in a film that, while greatly affecting, isn’t altogether unfamiliar. A competition berth at Venice — Kahn’s first at one of the European majors since 2018 — will aid the profile of a low-key work with raw emotional impact; the film should secure specialist theatrical distribution outside France, though it would fit well on arthouse streaming platforms too.
