Promise at Dawn (2017 film)

Promise at Dawn (La Promesse de l'aube) is a 2017 drama film directed by Éric Barbier, from a screenplay written by Barbier and Marie Eynard. It is the second screen adaptation of Romain Gary's 1960 autobiographical novel Promise at Dawn, following Jules Dassin's 1970 version. The film is a co-production between France and Belgium. It stars Pierre Niney and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It had its world premiere at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival on 14 October 2017. It was released in France and Belgium on 20 December 2017.

Premise
Roman Kacew recounts his life, from his childhood through his service in World War II, and the story of his self-sacrificing mother Nina, who raised him alone.

Production
The film was produced by Éric Jehelmann and Philippe Rousselet for Jerico Films, in co-production with Pathé Films, TF1 Films Production, Lorette Cinéma and Belgium's Nexus Factory and Umedia.

Release
Promise at Dawn was first screened in a sneak preview at the Pathé cinema in Évreux, Normandy, in the presence of Éric Barbier. The film was selected to be screened in the World Cinema section at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival. It had its world premiere in Busan on 14 October 2017. It was theatrically released in France by Pathé Distribution on 20 December 2017. It was released the same day in Belgium by Alternative Films.

Box office
On its first day, Promise at Dawn sold 46,358 admissions in France. At the end of its theatrical run in France, the film sold a total of 1,053,288 admissions, grossing a domestic total of $8.8 million and a worldwide total of $9.2 million.

Critical response
Promise at Dawn received an average rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 30 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.

Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times wrote, "The movie looks and sounds great, but greatness and depth elude it".