“There’s this sense of intoxication, a mystical feeling, excitement.” 1-2 Special has revealed the official US trailer for the acclaimed indie film titled La Gradiva, a French film about high school students traveling on a school trip to Southern Italy to learn about Pompeii & Mt Vesuvius. This premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week sidebar, but many critics said it’s good enough that it should’ve been in the fest’s Main Competition instead. It is a major breakout from the indie film scene this year. A group of high school students sets off on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii. There they are seized by a sense of vertigo. They allow themselves to be overwhelmed by desire and anger, until they surrender completely. Starring Antonia Buresi, Colas Quignard, Suzanne Gerin, & Mitia Capellier-Audat. Winner of the Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize, Martine Atlan’s “revelatory debut feature imbues the coming-of-age story with a sense of mythic grandeur in this work of classical beauty and overwhelming emotion. Working as her own co-cinematographer, Atlan captures the dizzying contradictions of youth with an almost documentary-like precision.” All the critics are raving about this being one of the best films from 2026! Take a look below. // Continue Reading ›