The Path of Excellence

The Path of Excellence (La Voie royale) is a 2023 drama film directed by Frédéric Mermoud. It was written by Mermoud alongside Salvatore Lista and Anton Likiernik. It had its world premiere at the 76th Locarno Film Festival on 3 August 2023.

Premise
Sophie, the daughter of a farming family, struggles to integrate into social life after enrolling in a classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles in Lyon.

Cast

 * Suzanne Jouannet as Sophie Vasseur
 * Marie Colomb as Diane Le Goff
 * Maud Wyler as Claire Fresnel, the physics teacher in the preparatory class
 * Marilyne Canto as Caroline Vasseur, Sophie's mother
 * Lorenzo Lefebvre as Hadrien Loiseau
 * Cyril Metzger as Laurent Vasseur, Sophie's brother
 * Alexandre Desrousseaux as Jules Couvreur
 * Antoine Chappey as Gérard Vasseur, Sophie's father

Production
The principal photography took place between October and November 2022 in Lyon and Paris. It also took place in Essonne, where a casting call for extras was published in early November.

Release
The Path of Excellence had its world premiere at the 76th Locarno Film Festival on 3 August 2023 during the Piazza Grande section. The film was released in French cinema on 9 August 2023. It garnered 35,015 admissions in its first week of release. It achieved 157,671 admissions during its theatrical run.

Critical reception
The Path of Excellence received an average rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 18 reviews.