Club Zero

Club Zero is a 2023 dark comedy thriller film, directed and produced by Jessica Hausner, from a screenplay by Hausner and Géraldine Bajard. It stars Mia Wasikowska, Mathieu Demy, Elsa Zylberstein, Amir El-Masry and Sidse Babett Knudsen. The film was an international co-production between companies in Austria, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Denmark.^[4]

Club Zero
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jessica Hausner
Written by	Jessica Hausner Géraldine Bajard
Produced by	Philippe Bober Bruno Wagner Mike Goodrige Johannes Schubert
Starring	Mia Wasikowska Mathieu Demy Elsa Zylberstein Amir El-Masry Sidse Babett Knudsen
Cinematography	Martin Gschlacht
Edited by	Karina Ressler
Music by	Markus Binder
Production companies	Coop99 Coproduction Office Essential Films Parisienne Paloma Productions Cinema Intuile Gold Rush Films
Distributed by	BAC Films (France) Filmladen (Austria) Neue Visionen (Germany) Camera Film (Denmark) Yume Pictures (United Kingdom)[1]
Release dates	22 May 2023 (2023-5-22) (Cannes) 27 September 2023 (2023-9-27) (France) 17 November 2023 (2023-11-17) (Austria) 28 March 2024 (2024-3-28) (Germany) 27 June 2024 (2024-6-27) (Denmark)
Running time	110 minutes[2]
Countries	Austria United Kingdom Germany France Denmark
Language	English
Box office	$180,680[3]

The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 22 May 2023.

Plot

A teacher at an elite school forms a bond with five students, which takes a shocking turn when their approach to intermittent fasting goes too far.

Cast

• Mia Wasikowska as Miss Novak
• Sidse Babett Knudsen as Miss Dorset
• Elsa Zylberstein as Elsa's mother
• Mathieu Demy as Elsa's father
• Luke Barker as Fred
• Ksenia Devriendt as Elsa
• Florence Baker as Ragna
• Samuel D. Anderson as Ben
• Gwen Currant as Helen
• Andrei Hozoc as Corbinian
• Sade McNichols-Thomas as Joan
• Amir El-Masry as Mr. Dahl
• Amanda Lawrence as Miss Benedict
• Sam Hoare as Fred's father
• Keeley Forsyth as Ragna's mother
• Lukas Turtur as Ragna's father
• Camilla Rutherford as Fred's mother
• Laoisha O'Callaghan as Helen's mother
• Isabel Lamers as Fred's Doctor

Production

In February 2022, it was reported that Mia Wasikowska joined the cast of the film, with Jessica Hausner directing and producing from a screenplay by herself and Géraldine Bajard.^[5] In August 2022, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Amir El-Masry, Mathieu Demy, Elsa Zylberstein, Luke Barker, Amanda Lawrence, Sam Hoare, Keeley Forsyth, Lukas Turtur, Camilla Rutherford, Samuel D. Anderson, Florence Baker, Ksenia Devriendt and Gwen Currant joined the cast of the film.^[6]

Principal photography began in Oxford on 25 July 2022 for a planned six-week shoot, before moving to Austria for a further two weeks.^[4][6]

Release

The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival,^[7] where it had its world premiere on 22 May 2023.^[8] It is slated to have its North American premiere at the 2023 Calgary International Film Festival, in the International Narrative Competition lineup. It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'World Cinema' section and was screened on 7 October 2023.^[9]

It was released in France by BAC Films on 27 September 2023,^[10] in Austria by Filmladen on 17 November 2023,^[11] in Germany by Neue Visionen on 28 March 2024^[12] and in Denmark by Camera Film on 27 June 2024.^[13] The film was given a limited release in the United States by Film Movement starting on 15 March 2024 at IFC Center in New York City.^[14][15]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 65% based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "With Club Zero, writer-director Jessica Hausner uses satire to explore an array of ambitious ideas, and the results are fitfully striking even if they don't consistently cohere."^[16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 14 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[17]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Cannes Film Festival	27 May 2023	Palme d'Or	Jessica Hausner	Nominated	[7]
Munich Film Festival	1 July 2023	Best International Film	Club Zero	Nominated	[18]
Palić European Film Festival	21 July 2023	Best Film		Nominated	[19]
		Special Mention	Markus Binder	Won
Manaki Brothers Film Festival	29 September 2023	Golden Camera 300	Martin Gschlacht	Nominated	[20]
Sitges Film Festival	15 October 2023	Best Film	Club Zero	Nominated	[21]
		Best Music	Markus Binder	Won
European Film Awards	9 December 2023	European Original Score		Won	[22]
Austrian Film Awards	5 June 2024	Best Feature Film	Club Zero	Nominated	[23]
		Best Casting	Lucy Pardee	Nominated
		Best Makeup	Heiko Schmidt and Kerstin Gaecklein	Nominated