Jessica Hausner’s Cannes-Bound ‘Club Zero’ Getting Great Buzz, Multiple Buyers

There aren’t many locks in Cannes competition at the moment. The ones I’ve heard that are already Palme d’Or ready are Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Kore-eda’s “Monster,” Ceylan’s “On Barren Weeds,” Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera,” Loach’s “The Old Oak” and Garrone’s “The Captain.”

You can probably add Campillo’s “Red Island” in there as well, but I haven’t heard anything confirmed yet about that one. Maybe Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux is waiting it out until he confirms the usual 3-4 French films for competition.

One other title that I can almost bet will be in competition is Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero.” I’m purely basing this on the buzz I’ve heard so far for it. It’s said to be the Austrian filmmaker’s best film.

Screen is also reporting on this, saying that multiple buyers, from all around the world, snapped up Hausner’s psychological drama at the Berlin Film Market:

The ensemble film set at an elite boarding school sold in France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Baltic countries and the Middle East.

This is Hausner’s sixth feature and follow-up to the 2019 Cannes Competition title “Little Joe”, which won the best actress prize for star Emily Beecham.

Hausner’s previous films, “Lovely Rita”, “Hotel” and “Amour Fou” premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard sidebar. She was also in Venice back in 2009 with comp title “Lourdes.”

Shot in Oxford and currently in post-production, “Club Zero” stars Mia Wasikowska, Mathieu Demy, Elsa Zylberstein and Sidse Babett Knudsen.

Wasikowska plays a young teacher who joins the prestigious school and introduces a new subject to students she calls “conscious eating”. Under her lead, the teenage students begin to challenge social norms by reducing their food consumption, until things begin to take a dangerous turn.