Sagaspedia
Coward
Plot
Lukas Dhont's Coward is set in 1916, in the thick of World War I. Pierre is a Belgian soldier stuck in the trenches, where mud, cold and fear are part of the daily grind.
To keep from going under, he and his comrades try to hold on to some spirit between attacks. That is where Pierre meets Francis, a gay young man who makes no effort to hide and who stands out for his flamboyant streak.
The two grow close. Fed up with the war talk and the endless misery, they and their trench mates decide to put on a theatrical revue, with skits, songs and costumes improvised right there at the front.
Dhont, who made Girl and Close, returns to tenderness between young men, this time in the harshest setting imaginable. The script, written with Angelo Tijssens, took three years and grew out of digging through war archives. Emmanuel Macchia, in his first role, and Valentin Campagne play the central pair.
Official trailer
Awards and nominees
- Cannes Film Festival 2026 · Best Actor · Emmanuel Macchia e Valentin Campagne
Trivia
- In their research, Dhont and Tijssens learned that soldiers staged plays at the front, often in drag to play wives and mothers.
- It is Dhont's third film in Cannes' official selection, after Girl (2018) and Close (2022).
- Besides the shared Best Actor prize, it won Cannes' Positive Cinema Prize.
Cast
- PierreEmmanuel Macchia
- FrancisValentin Campagne
- ThomasBoris Bouchat
- MathildeAnaëlle Fournier
- Gustaaf CooremanMistral Guidotti
- Jozef StevensJef Jacobs
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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