Final Rating: 3/5
Where do our dreams end and reality begin? The Ice Tower from French director Lucile Hadzihalilovic is a haunting fairy tale-esque journey of a young woman’s life beyond her sheltered surroundings.
Our heroine Jeanne (Clara Pacini) is a young woman living at an orphanage who longs to see the world. She is one of the older children and helps to care for the younger kids, including Rose (Cassandre Louis Urbain) whom she reads fairy tales to before bed, including that of the Ice Queen.
One day Jeanne runs away from the orphanage, escaping to the city where she longs to see the ice rink she has only envisioned through a photograph. Once she arrives there, after narrowly averting potentially serious trouble, she’s mesmerized by a beautiful and talented skater named Bianca (Valentina Vezzoso). She reaches out to Bianca, inquiring if she knows any place to stay but no help is forthcoming.
Alone, and without much money, Jeanne must find shelter. After little luck, she breaks into a building and hunkers down for the night. It is here where she’s hiding out, only to wake up and discover she’s on a film set. She subsequently meets Cristina (Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard) , a famous actress.
This then leads to the film within the film as they are shooting an adaption where Cristina plays the Ice Queen and soon reality and the fairy tale start to blur. Jeanne also has acquired a new persona as Bianca, as she had witnessed the real Bianca and her boyfriend fighting and losing her purse. Jeanne scoops her belongings up after they leave, and takes on the identity.
When discovered in the building, Jeanne pretends to be an extra and, with help from a kindly on-set assistant (Dounia Sichov), becomes part of the film. The castle and its icy tower look gorgeous, as are the costumes, and there is a sort of surreal beauty to much of the cinematography when at this locale.
Cristina lords over the set to the point where many seemingly walk on egg shells to ensure things are just so. She is temperamental in the way stereotypical stars are imagined to be, often intimidating other cast members, and with the help of her friend Max (August Diehl) uses drugs to cope with her own issues. She likewise grew up in an orphanage, and serves as a mother-like figure to Jeanne, who lost her mother as a young girl.
Her mother overdosed on pills and it was Jeanne who found her in bed, ice cold. The two seemingly bond, but to what extent and what is expected is always at their fingertips. Cristina puts Jeanne up in a hotel so she has a place to stay, but Jeanne is somewhat disappointed to learn Cristina isn’t staying there as well. She divulges that she hates hotels and prefers her privacy.
At one juncture they venture out of the city and into the mountains where Cristina seems intent on solving her problems once and for all, taking Jeanne with her. The snowy landscape seems empty except for them, and the perfect place to get away from the world. Christine questions whether Jeanne truly loves her, while seeming to resent her fame, though unafraid to wield the power it affords her.
Throughout the film, there’s a sense of ‘be careful who you idolize’ and what their intentions may be. The Ice Queen stands in for Cristina as this metaphor, one Jeanne must learn from. It’s visually spectacular with solid performances. Much of the story unfolds through exposition, either in dialogue or voice over, but there is depth at least to the main characters as it builds to an ending that fits the narrative based on the idea that those we idolize may not be everything we imagine. The pacing and dream-like quality will not be for everyone, as it unfolds slowly, but those who are captivated by the visuals and how its interwoven will appreciate the artistry.
The Ice Tower was seen during the 2025 Genre Gems film festival.
