A Second Life

A Second Life
Promotional poster
Directed by	Laurent Slama
Written by	Laurent Slama Thomas Keumurian
Produced by	Maxime Montagne Laurent Slama
Starring	Agathe Rousselle Alex Lawther Suzy Bemba Jonas Bachan
Cinematography	Laurent Slama
Edited by	Souliman Schelfout
Music by	Jean-Charles Bastion
Production company	21 Juin CinémaLoulou
Release date	2025 (2025)
Running time	77 minutes
Country	France
Languages	English French

A Second Life is a 2025 French drama film written and directed by Laurent Slama and starring Agathe Rousselle and Alex Lawther.¹

During the Olympic Games in Paris, Elisabeth, a hearing-impaired woman grappling with depression, manages short-term rentals while seeking respite from the city's chaos by removing her hearing aids. Her day shifts dramatically when she meets Elijah, a free-spirited Californian, and finds a rare connection amid the noise of the opening ceremony.²³

• Agathe Rousselle as Elisabeth
• Alex Lawther as Elijah
• Suzy Bemba
• Jonas Bachan

The film was largely shot on location in Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympics with a minimal crew.⁴

The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival on 6 June 2025 in the International Narrative Competition.² The film later screened as a Special Screening at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in July 2025.⁵³

The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "avoids most of the clichés of your touristy Paris-set drama, all while using the genuine magic of the French capital," and praised Agathe Rousselle for carrying "a compellingly off-the-cuff Paris movie".⁶

Cineuropa described it as "a beautiful platonic encounter" during the Paris Olympics, lauding its sensory depiction of Elisabeth’s perspective.⁵ James Y. Lee of Film Obsessive called it "a dramatically anodyne experience, where even on a formal and visual level, there’s very little about the film that excels."⁷