Julie Keeps Quiet
Despite the flashy nature often associated with tennis – and the high-profile involvement of Naomi Osaka as executive producer – Julie Keeps Quiet unfolds with remarkably little fanfare. Leonardo Van Dijl’s feature debut that sidesteps the usual sports drama clichés in favour of something more restrained. The sport isn’t glamorous. The courts are dusty, the lighting warm but pointedly dim – even under stadium floodlights, there’s a sense that nothing is ever quite illuminated. But that’s fitting for Julie, a teenage tennis hopeful navigating the aftermath of her coach’s suspension.
Amidst the wave of complications, Julie – played with striking naturalism by newcomer Tessa Van den Broeck, who, fittingly, is a real-life tennis player – as she navigates the monotony of training and the half-hearted hum of adolescent life, now complicated by a fresh wave of complications. She’s a leading regional player but not a prodigy. Her victories are minor, and her technique is solid but not showy. There’s no slow-motion climax or grand slam in sight, and the psychological drama is a portrait of someone simply trying to keep up.
Much of the feature unfolds in silence. Julie doesn’t offer dramatic outbursts or touching monologues, and her quiet is not only habitual but strategic. At times, it’s a shield; a way to deflect questions she isn’t ready to answer. At others, she appears genuinely lost for words, her retreat into silence more instinctive than intentional. In both cases, the result is powerful. We lean in, listening to what’s not said.
Van Dijl resists close-ups, instead letting the camera linger in wide and mid shots as Julie swings her racquet in repetition, or trudges between practice and class. The realism is sharp with every unremarkable rally, mistimed serve and clatter of balls in the basket. Costumes, too, ground the movie in realism, with a marked absence of crisp whites and glossy sportswear. Julie wears what she trains in – functional, slightly worn athletic gear. It’s the sort of detail that, like so much of the film, underscores its commitment to the quiet work behind ambition rather than the spectacle of success. Ultimately, Julie Keeps Quiet is less about sport than about solitude, and the silence in between important conversations. And in that stillness, it finds something rare: the truth of the everyday.
Christina Yang
Julie Keeps Quiet is released in select cinemas on 25th April 2025.
Watch the trailer for Julie Keeps Quiet here:
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