Director: Leonardo Van Dijl
Silence becomes the loudest choice a teenager can make in this understated 2024 Belgian-Swedish drama, which follows a rising tennis prospect who refuses to say what everyone around her wants to hear.
What is Julie zwijgt about?
Julie trains at an elite tennis academy where her coach has shaped nearly every part of her routine, from her serve to her diet to her daily schedule. When that coach is suddenly suspended pending an investigation, the club encourages its players, one after another, to come forward and describe their experiences with him. Julie says nothing. Rather than building toward a courtroom reveal, the film stays close to her daily training, her matches, and the small, quiet moments where her composure occasionally cracks, letting the audience sit with the discomfort of not knowing exactly why she won't speak, and slowly suggesting how thoroughly a young athlete can be trained to keep quiet long before anyone asks her to.
Cast & crew
Newcomer Tessa Van den Broeck carries the film as Julie, a role built almost entirely on physical restraint and unspoken reaction. Koen De Bouw plays her coach, with Alyssa Lorette, Ruth Becquart, and Claire Bodson filling out the academy and family around her.
Context & significance
Julie Keeps Quiet marks the feature debut of director Leonardo Van Dijl, a Belgian filmmaker who previously worked in short-form fiction before expanding this premise into a full drama. It premiered in the Directors' Fortnight sidecar at Cannes in 2024 and was praised for its restrained, procedural approach to a subject many films treat with far more melodrama.
Where & how to watch
Julie Keeps Quiet is available on K-Time with Persian subtitles and a Farsi-language interface, built for viewers streaming from within the Persian-speaking diaspora. The page and details here are free to browse; watching the film itself only requires logging into a K-Time account.