Still from Iron Boy

Spotlight

Iron Boy

Louis Clichy

U.S. Premiere

Winner of the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize at Cannes, Louis Clichy’s gorgeously hand-painted 1980s-set coming-of-age tale is a vision of rustic beauty and spiritual grace about an 11-year-old boy living with his struggling farming family in rural France.

Runtime
90 min
Country
France/Belgium
Language
French
Year
2026
More information
Official film page

Screenings

In this gorgeously hand-painted coming-of-age tale, 11-year-old Christophe lives with his struggling farming family in the rural Beauce region in France in the late 1980s. In addition to a stern, demanding father, the boy is further plagued by a sudden physical instability, requiring an iron body brace that keeps him ramrod-straight. Despite this, Christophe finds moments of joy, love, and surprising heroism. Louis Clichy, who worked as an animator for Pixar on Wall-E and Up, has made a deeply personal directorial debut of rustic beauty and spiritual grace; every loving brushstroke brings a sense of detailed authenticity to his vision, based on memories of growing up working-class in the French countryside amid vast farmlands, electric towers, and churches. Accompanied by an ethereal score of classical organ and choral music, Iron Boy is a delicately transporting story of a young boy’s emergence into individuality, and a family film of rare nuance. Winner of the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. A Sony Pictures Classics release.