It was never our intention to create a film where the suspense revolves around determining who is guilty and who is innocent. We fully respect the importance of the presumption of innocence. Instead, we focused on another critical tension: in cases involving the word of children, shouldn’t the precautionary principle take precedence?
Children, unlike adults, cannot sustain complex, coherent lies over an extended period. With this in mind, a fundamental question arises: what is more serious—taking a small risk of being wrong about an adult’s guilt or exposing a child to the much greater risk of enduring abuse or sexual violence?
The film invites viewers to reflect on this dilemma and to reconsider the place we give to children’s voices in our society. Shouldn’t we be more willing to believe and protect them, especially when their courage in speaking out is already immense? — Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys
Centered around a riveting 50-minute custody hearing shot in real time, We Believe You is the debut feature from the writing and directing team Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys. Taking on a Rashomon effect as the estranged parents of two children argue their cases before a judge—accompanied by their lawyers and the children’s lawyer as well—an accusation of incestuous rape hangs over the proceedings. Dardennes associate Myriem Akheddiou plays the children’s mother in a seething performance of barely contained rage. And in a potent bit of casting that recalls Anatomy of a Murder (1959), all of the attorneys in the film are played by real-life lawyers.
In its Los Angeles premiere, We Believe You will screen this week at the AFI Fest presented by Canva. See info and link below for details.
WE BELIEVE YOU
Written and directed by Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys
AFI Fest presented by Canva
Wednesday, October 22, at 6:45 pm
Chinese 2
6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles
fest.afi.com/2025/we-believe-you
Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys, We Believe You / On vous croit (2025), from top: Myriem Akheddiou and Laurent Capelluto; Akheddiou, Adèle Pinckaers, and Ulysse Goffin; We Believe You poster; Capelluto, Natali Broods, and Akheddiou.
Images courtesy and © Mackintosh Films.