The Ice Tower

A film by director Lucile Hadzihalilovic about a young runaway girl, who finds herself on the film set of a dark fairytale production featuring an alluring film actress whom she becomes infatuated by.

The story begins by setting the background to a troubled young 15 year old girl, Jeanne, who wants to run away from her family home. The tone is set when she hitchhikes a ride with a stranger which immediately rings alarm bells to her vulnerability. She breaks into a derelict building for shelter and wakes up the next day to find herself on a film set. As she picks up scraps of food from the production leftovers for breakfast she is presumed to be part of the cast on the production of the Snow Queen, a story she is entranced by. She comes face to face with the star actress Christina (Marion Cotillard) quickly falling under her spell and begins to spy on her. In the production melee she ends up on set as an extra and features in a scene across from her idol. They soon forge a bond which develops with dark undertones surfacing from the dual worlds of the unfolding events and the fairytale script that merge into one.

Marion Cotillard effortlessly assumes the role of the pretentious diva Snow Queen and is matched by an equally assured debutant Clara Pacini playing the young impressionable street urchin. They pull the audience in to a fantasy world of filmmaking and story telling filled with a slow burning suspense. The costumes, interiors and grand snowy vistas combine in stylish exuberance with the eerie music score.

The dangers of a young fan’s adulation and the power of celebrity are given an icy female touch in an atmospherically charged French drama. In UK cinemas from 21 November (French with English subtitles).