Cannes Opening Film ‘The Electric Kiss’ Boarded By Playtime For Sales

Playtime has boarded international sales on Pierre Salvadori’s The Electric Kiss ahead of its world premiere as the opening film of the Cannes Film Festival.

The film was first announced earlier this year during the Unifrance Rendez-vous with Goodfellas on board as the sales agent.

Set in Paris in 1928, the film stars Pio Marmaï as Antoine Balestro, a painter at the height of his fame who has been unable to work since the death of his wife, Irène (Vimala Pons), much to the despair of his gallery owner, Armand (Gilles Lellouche).

One drunken evening, Antoine attempts to contact Irène through a psychic. Unbeknownst to him, he is in fact speaking with Suzanne (Anaïs Demoustier), a humble carnival worker. A gifted fraudster, Suzanne — helped by Armand, who is desperate for his protégé to paint again — stages a series of fake séances.

Gradually, Antoine regains his inspiration but the deception grows increasingly complicated as Suzanne finds herself falling in love with the man she is deceiving…

Salvadori co-wrote the screenplay with Benjamin Charbit and Benoît Graffin, based on an original idea by Rebecca Zlotowski (A Private Life) and Robin Campillo (BPM).

The film is produced by Les Films Pelléas, the production company behind two Palmes d’Or winners at Cannes, Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall (2023) and Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident (2025). Philippe Martin serves as producer and David Thion as associate producer.

Co- producers include Sandrine Dumas for Pio & Co (Paris), Jacques-Henri Bronckart and Tatjana Kozar for Versus Production (Belgium), and Pierre Salvadori under his Tovo Films banner, with the participation of France 2 Cinéma.

Distributor Diaphana will release the film theatrically in France simultaneously with its world premiere on 12 May.

“With Venus, Pierre Salvadori delivers one of his finest films, firmly placing himself in the great tradition of classic romantic comedies. Having collaborated with a filmmaker for over thirty years, for whom the language of comedy is so instinctive, is one of the greatest joys of my professional life. And knowing that this work will be brought to the world by Playtime is wonderful news,” said Martin.

Playtime Managing Director Sébastien Beffa added: “Great romantic comedies are few and far between. When one delivers on all its promises, with a great director at the helm and a strong production team behind it, there’s no hesitation – Playtime came on board as soon as it was offered the film.”