If you thought you’d seen every shade of teenage longing, wait until Enzo strolls into your heart with the weight of class, war, and desire all woven together in one gorgeously shot French-set daydream.
Sixteen-year-old Enzo, played with quiet magnetism by newcomer Eloy Pohu, decides that life behind his wealthy parents’ villa gates just isn’t cutting it, so he trades in schoolbooks for a trowel and mortar on a local construction site.
He’s awkward, green, and completely unprepared for manual labor, but that’s part of the charm—he’s a boy searching for purpose in a world that keeps handing him privilege instead of meaning.
Enter Vlad, the rugged and quietly charismatic Ukrainian mason brought to life by Maksym Slivinskyi, a man whose every line and look seems carved from a deeper life story, torn between working under the southern French sun and the pull of a war-torn homeland.
Slivinskyi recently teased on Instagram that Enzo’s journey isn’t just about the screen—it’s also about the film’s own travels, premiering at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in May, then making August stops at the New Zealand International Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and the Sydney Film Festival before heading to France, Italy, Switzerland, and even Australia’s wider cinema circuit, with a later TV debut on Canal+.
With director Robin Campillo stepping in to finish the project after the passing of his longtime collaborator Laurent Cantet, Enzo feels like both a farewell and a celebration—a tender, sunlit exploration of youth that honors its creator’s voice.
If you’re into queer narratives that capture both the ache and the sweetness of self-discovery, you might also want to revisit another story that blends youth, identity, and big feelings: You may like: Heartstopper’s Kit Connor Leads Dreamy Cast in Queer War Drama
Visually, the film is pure Mediterranean poetry—every dusty brick, every ocean breeze, every lingering glance between Enzo and Vlad is drenched in the kind of romantic tension that makes you want to pause the frame and live in it for a while.
Emotionally, it’s all about the in-between—the wordless connections, the hesitant touches, and the kind of unspoken understanding that makes teenage summers feel endless and fleeting all at once.
The performances bring out the story’s layers: Pohu’s Enzo isn’t simply a spoiled boy trying on adulthood, he’s a soul in motion; Slivinskyi’s Vlad is equally compelling, carrying the quiet nobility of someone who’s seen enough life to know when to hold back and when to let someone in.
Whether you’ve ever had your own older-crush summer or just love a film that takes its time to breathe, Enzo will wrap you up in its slow-burning warmth and leave you with that bittersweet ache that only good cinema can stir.
And if your heart is still craving more tender queer stories, I’ve got just the thing: You may like: Actors Fra Fee & Declan Bennett’s Beautiful West End Romance Is the Queer Love Story We Needed
Go ahead, give yourself permission to lean into all the feels with Enzo—it’s cinematic soul food served with a side of sun, salt, and slow-burning desire.