One might believe that the various cases of sexual assault that have made the headlines recently have served as inspiration for Juliette Gosselin and Sophia Belahmer. We could assume that the #metoo movement, which shook many circles in 2017 and in the following years, ignited a creative spark in them.
And yet! The beginnings of this series precede these events. “We started this project in 2014,” explains Sophia Belahmer.
“When there was #metoo, it surprised a lot of men,” says Juliette Gosselin. But for women, I think it wasn’t that surprising. We, among friends, among colleagues, confided in each other about situations, small violence as well as major ones, but all violence of a sexual nature that we had faced in our lives. We realized that it was very common. »
During all these years of development, they would have liked society to change to a point where the project would no longer have its reason for existence. “We dream of the day when our series will no longer be relevant, but we are very far from that. […] There is still a lot of education to be done,” believes Juliette Gosselin, who also plays the character of Macha in the show.
Exploring the “gray zone”
If so much time passed between the initial idea and the release of Discreet, it’s because the two friends encountered numerous refusals from broadcasters. According to Sophia Belahmer, many did not dare to venture onto this “slippery slope”. “We didn’t want to change our ending. We didn’t want to change our characters. We wanted to work in the gray zone,” she says.
L’exploration de cette « zone grise » débute dès le premier épisode alors que Gaby (Aurélia Arandi-Longpré) croise à une heure tardive, dans les locaux où elle fait le ménage, un avocat nommé Manu (Olivier Gervais-Courchesne).
Comme Macha, qui est à ce moment-là cachée sous un bureau, le téléspectateur ne voit rien, mais entend tout. Le flirt entre les deux jeunes adultes. Le « attends », rempli d’inconfort, prononcé par Gaby après un baiser. L’absence de « oui ». Mais l’absence de « non » aussi.
La plupart des agressions se produisent dans cette espèce de silence. Beaucoup de femmes vont se figer. Beaucoup de femmes, à ce moment-là, n’auront pas le courage, la force ou la lucidité de dire un non clair. La vérité, c’est que la plupart des agressions se passent dans cette zone un peu floue.
Juliette Gosselin
Avec cette scène, les deux réalisatrices souhaitaient amener le téléspectateur à réfléchir à la notion de consentement. « Ça ouvre la porte à la discussion », soutient Sophia Belahmer.
Car, dans Discrètes, personne n’est dépeint comme le « grand méchant loup » et aucune victime n’est irréprochable.
Tout au long de la websérie, on suit la vengeance orchestrée par Gaby et Macha, qui multiplient les actes de sabotage pour faire payer l’avocat. En discutant avec les créatrices, on comprend qu’il existe une gradation dans les actions posées. On a vu les six premiers épisodes, mais le meilleur – ou le pire, selon le point de vue – reste à venir, promet le duo.
La colère des femmes
Inspirées par Thelma et Louise, « qui a marqué [leur] cinematographic education”, the two friends wanted to feature strong female characters capable of being indignant. “Badass girls », summarizes Juliette Gosselin.
Another aspect that was poorly received by potential broadcasters, she indicates. “Women’s anger is scary, I think. We’re so used to seeing guys who shoot guns, who fight, who are violent. It’s so commonplace in our society! But when a woman gets angry, on the other hand…”
I have the impression that there was something that frightened the broadcasters in the way our characters reacted very fiercely to the injustice they suffered.
Juliette Gosselin
Why did she and Sophia Belahmer want to highlight this feminine anger? “It started from an indignation that we felt and that we wanted to translate into our characters,” replies the actress.
Each time they heard the testimonies of women who had been attacked, they felt angry.
“When it happens to us, we brush it off, we don’t want to talk about it. But when it happens to others, that’s when indignation hits us,” thinks Juliette Gosselin.
It is exactly this dynamic that they reproduced in Discreet : Gaby minimizes what she is experiencing, while Macha wants justice to be done.
If the subject of this “feminist thriller with hints of black humor” is heavy, the friendship between the two characters brings a bright side to it, argue the two creators.
“There is always a bright side to things,” believes Sophia Belahmer. Gaby experienced a “great drama”, but “she surely found her best friend too”, she emphasizes.
And for Juliette Gosselin and Sophia Belahmer, who became friends during their film studies about ten years ago, a relationship like that is very precious.
The first six episodes of Discreet are offered on ICI Tou.tv Extra. The last four will be accessible from Friday.
Who are Juliette Gosselin and Sophia Belahmer?
Juliette Gosselin is celebrating her 20th career this year.
In 2004, she obtained her first major role in New Francealongside Gérard Depardieu.
She has appeared in numerous series, including Tomorrow of men, Fragile And Disobey: The choice of Chantale Daigle.
In the cinema, she was notably seen in Fabulous And 1991.
In 2015, Sophia Belahmer and Juliette Gosselin wrote and directed the web series Switch & Bitch from a short film of the same name.
In 2023, they produced season 2 of the show together Chef Oli goes rural.