A Crab in the Pool

In a run-down neighborhood, Zoe and her little brother Theo are left to fend for themselves. A young adolescent, Zoe is a ball of anger haunted by an intimate terror. Theo, still a child, flees reality into a fantastical world. During a scorching summer day, the two children will have to burst the abscess of their relationship so as not to lose each other.

Director’s statement
A CRAB IN THE POOL is an exploration of grief. It's also about cancer, a disease that has touched us very closely.

For Alexandra, the illness was experienced in her own body; it caused her to mourn the loss of a physical image and a certain innocence in the face of mortality. Jean-Sébastien experienced it through close relatives as a witness, an experience with its share of powerlessness and invisibility. The film was an opportunity to exorcise fears and emotions. We therefore "shared" the two protagonists, to give each a unique voice based on our respective experiences.

It's important not to judge these characters, but to approach them with understanding and compassion. Despite the heaviness of the theme, we were keen to keep the film humorous and whimsical; the medium of animation allows us to bring that dose of imagination, psychedelia and gentle madness that can help defuse a painful situation and a subject that can seem heavy, without falling in melodrama.