Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka executive-produced this Belgian film, which focuses on a tennis player—except it isn’t really about tennis. It’s about the abuse of power, and how one young woman deals with it.
Julie (real-life player Tessa Van den Broeck), who attends a tennis academy in Brussels, has a closer-than-average relationship with her coach. Jérémy (Laurent Caron) has helped her become the academy’s shining star, but it has come at a cost. Debut director Leonardo van Dijl, alongside actress / co-writer Ruth Becquart, shows the late-night calls and text messages he sends—ostensibly about tennis, yet hinting that something else is happening behind closed doors.
Julie is friendly with the other players, like caring Laure (Grace Biot), but she says little. When Aline (Tamara Tricot), a 16-year-old teammate, takes her own life, academy administrator Sofie (Claire Bodson) wonders whether Jérémy—including his private lessons—played a role. She suspends him, installs Backie (Pierre Gervais) as interim coach, and brings in a third-party consultant for each player. As Julie prepares for a crucial Belgian Tennis Federation try-out, Jérémy keeps contacting her in secret.
Rumors swirl: did the coach push Aline too hard? Julie remains silent, revisiting a video in which Aline looks anything but suicidal. Her grades slip, threatening her athletic future. When Jérémy asks for a clandestine meeting, Julie agrees; he complains about lesser players and insists he “stopped” when she asked—unwittingly confirming probable sexual abuse.
Julie focuses on tennis and school, spending downtime with her family and their dachshund, Maxi. The longer Jérémy is suspended, the less she wants him back, though she never says why—even when Sofie plays a recording in which he claims innocence. Van Dijl’s elliptical direction recalls Belgian auteurs Jean and Luc Dardenne (coproducers here), and Van den Broeck’s near-silent performance echoes Julia Garner in The Assistant. The film eschews sensationalism for sensitivity, and its final sequence hints that Julie may finally speak out.
Which library film collections should add Julie Keeps Quiet to serve patrons and academic librarians seeking international dramas on athlete abuse?
Julie Keeps Quiet is an ideal addition to international film collections, women’s studies shelves, and sports‑in‑cinema sections in both public and academic libraries. Academic librarians curating resources on power dynamics in athletics, sexual abuse in sport, or European social‑issue dramas will find this title a timely documentary‑style drama for coursework, media‑literacy discussions, and film‑archive holdings.
How can media librarians program Julie Keeps Quiet in a film series on tennis films or athlete‑rights documentaries?
For library programming and film‑series planners, pair Julie Keeps Quiet with tennis‑centered titles such as King Richard, Battle of the Sexes, Challengers, and documentary Untold: Breaking Point to explore themes of coaching pressure, gender equity, and athlete welfare. It also fits into broader “#MeToo in Sports” or athlete mental‑health film nights, offering discussion opportunities on consent, systemic silence, and public‑performance‑rights guidelines for libraries.