Wild Foxes
In Valéry Carnoy’s assured feature debut, a teenage boxer finds his future scuppered by a debilitating accident.
Image courtesy of Conic.
by MANSEL STIMPSON
When it comes to films about boxing American cinema clearly takes pride of place as evidenced by movies built around Rocky and Creed as well as a whole series of one-offs headed by Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980.) Even so, this is a genre that has not been ignored by filmmakers in Britain whose contributions range all the way from the silent days (Hitchcock’s The Ring in 1927 to the recent Giant starring Pierce Brosnan). Even Ealing Studios got in on the act in 1953 with The Square Ring. However, when it comes to European cinema, I have the impression that such works are very rare indeed. Admittedly boxing had a part in the Visconti classic Rocco and His Brothers (1960) but it was only one element in a wide-ranging piece. As recently as 2016 the Finnish writer/director Juho Kosmanen gave us a film centred on the world of boxing but in making it he brought to it a highly individual tone. That was The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki and that film is the one that comes closest to Wild Foxes which definitely belongs to the boxing genre but again has its own unconventional approach. Just as that piece by Kuosmanen marked his feature debut, so too Wild Foxes is the first feature by Valéry Carnoy who, being Belgian, might not have been expected to make his debut with a story about a boxer. The choice may be surprising but it has proved very successful and at the 2025 Cannes film festival it won not one but two awards.
The central figure in Wild Foxes is a boxer named Camille played by the up-and-coming French actor Samuel Kircher. Together with his best friend Matteo (Fayçal Anaflous), who is also his sparring partner, Camille is attending a French sports academy where he is considered to have strong potential and is regarded as someone likely to find a place in the European Championships. The film opens in the boarding school’s own ring and ultimately finds its climax when for the first time Camille enters into a match in Brussels. It is a structure redolent of other boxing films but two elements ensure that Wild Foxes stands apart from most films about this sport. First, there's the fact that this is very much a film about teenagers and, while various members of the staff feature including the team coach, Bogdan (Jean-Baptiste Durand), the main characters are all young students. Camille himself is seventeen and the others are of a similar age. In addition to Matteo, they include Pierre (Jef Jacobs), Nasser (Hassane Alili) and Coreb (Salahdine El Gharchi). These young males are seen in a setting that has its share of comradeship but also leads to competitiveness. Indeed, one of the first instructions that we hear given to a boxer is itself a reminder of the toughness of this sport: “Suffocate him”.
The emphasis on this age group may give Wild Foxes wider appeal than is normally present in boxing films and it is indeed likely that the choice of title points to an intended comparison between the foxes and the youths central to the story. But any such parallel is not overstated. As for the film’s second distinctive feature, it is one that proves to be no less central to the story. Early on we learn that Camille and Matteo are making a habit of stealing food from the school in order to provide meat to the foxes that are present in a nearby forest. We see them doing this and admiring the animals in the process, but on this occasion it leads to an accident when Camille, having climbed up to a high spot, has a serious fall which puts him in the local hospital where he has to undergo surgery. It is expected that he will be unable to box for two months but the arm wound heals more quickly than expected and he is soon back in training for inter-school competitions. However, instead of making a full recovery, Camille experiences a traumatic reaction and is held back by pain which he continues to feel but which is actually psychological. It's a situation which the other boxers don't understand and in consequence they see him as cowardly and are ready to turn on him especially after he loses a match by pulling out before the bout ends and at a time when he is expected to be able to continue.
The state that Camille is in plays a central role in the tale and renders Camille a character tough enough to be drawn to boxing and to have the determination to succeed but vulnerable too. Kircher proves very adroit at convincingly portraying these almost contradictory elements and Anaflous, a promising newcomer, is well cast as Matteo. At one stage circumstances make their relationship less easy but subsequently the film gains from earlier holding back just how important Matteo’s actions had been when they first met. The disclosure when it comes is all the more touching. However, despite the cast being for the most part male, there is also a striking performance here by Anna Heckel. She appears as Yasmine one of the school’s female students who is there to study taekwondo although she also has a strong interest in playing the trumpet. This is a subsidiary role but a striking one. Yasmine is seen not as a love interest but as somebody who develops a sympathetic bond with Camille. That in itself makes the role unusual and appealing, but Anna Heckel brings a distinctive quality to it too and could well be an actress to watch.
With a running length of 94 minutes Wild Foxes is an assured feature debut for Valéry Carnoy who gives the piece a suitably strong physical feel. Well done though it is, I can't see this is an exceptional film. Nevertheless, it is one that is very competently handled in all respects and it concludes effectively in a way which leaves viewers to assess the mood for themselves which again makes it very different from most boxing dramas. At the very least it can be said that all those who are drawn to the story it tells should find watching Wild Foxes a rewarding experience.
Original title: La danse des renards.
Cast: Samuel Kircher, Fayçal Anaflous, Anna Heckel, Jef Jacobs, Hassane Alili, Salahdine El Gharchi, Jean-Baptiste Durand, Raphaël Thiéry, Stephanie Goemaere, Yoann Blanc, Samuel Carnoy.
Dir Valéry Carnoy, Pro Julie Esparbes, Screenplay Valéry Carnoy with Jacques Akchoti, Ph Arnaud Guez, Pro Des Yasmina Chavanne, Ed Suzana Pedro, Music Pierre Desprats, Costumes Jessica Harkway.
Héliotronic/Les Films du Poisson/Proximus/Be TV & Orange/Shelter Productions/Canal+-Conic.
94 mins. France/Belgium. 2025. UK Rel: 1 May 2026. Cert. 15.
