Arnaud Desplechin’s The Thing that Hurts is now in post-production

02/06/2026 – Produced by CG Cinéma in league with Wrong Men and Alaz Film, the film stars Alfre Woodard, J.K. Simmons, Jason Schwartzman, André Holland, Noémie Merlant, Golshifteh Farahani and Felicity Jones

After 28 days of filming in Belgium, Paris and Benin, which came to a close on 15 May, The Thing that Hurts by Arnaud Desplechin is now in post-production. This is the 15th fiction feature film by the director who has competed seven times in Cannes (in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2013, 2019 and 2022), once in Venice (in 2004) and in San Sebastián last year via Two Pianos. It’s also his third English-language film following Esther Kahn (2000) and Jimmy P. – Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2013).

Stealing focus in the cast is US actress Alfre Woodard (nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1984 and the 2021 Best Actress Bafta via Clemency, and likewise acclaimed in 12 Years a Slave and the Desperate Housewives series, among other works), fellow Americans J.K. Simmons (awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Whiplash and nominated for Being the Ricardos), Jason Schwartzman (whose previous work notably includes six Wes Anderson films and, recently, Queer and Megalopolis) and André Holland (brilliant in Moonlight and in the series The Knick, among other works, and recently seen in Love, Brooklyn), French actress Noémie Merlant (nominated for the Best Actress César via Portrait of a Lady on Fire, triumphant in the Supporting Actress category thanks to The Innocent, seen in Cannes last month in Roma elastica and soon to be seen in Les Misérables), French-Iranian talent Golshifteh Farahani (nominated for the Best Newcomer César in 2014, recently seen in Alpha and soon to appear in Un peu avant minuit) and Brit Felicity Jones (nominated for the Best Actress Oscar thanks to The Theory of Everything and for Best Supporting Actress via The Brutalist).

Written by the director and Kamen Velkovsky (who previously teamed up to write Two Pianos), the story revolves around a group of patients who come together in Paris following the demise of their renowned American psychoanalyst, revealing their lasting bonds as they reminisce over the profound influence she had on their lives.

Produced by Charles Gillibert on behalf of Parisian firm CG Cinéma together with Belgium’s Wrong Men (Benoît Roland) and Turkey’s Alaz Film (via Atilla Salih Yücer and Kamen Velkovsky), The Thing that Hurts has enjoyed financial support from 3SIX9 Studios (Porto-Rico – Daya Fernández, Alois Rubenbauer and Amaury Nolasco). The feature film has also been pre-purchased by BeTv, Proximus and RTBF, and is further backed by Wallimage and the Ile-de-France region (via the international film support fund). Photography was entrusted to David Chizallet (awarded the Lumière Prize and nominated for the 2016 César in his field for Mustang), while the film’s release will be steered by Les Films du Losange in French cinemas and by Imagine Film Distribution in Belgian cinemas. World sales are managed by Gravel Lake Entertainment.

(Translated from French)