Az, a handsome 20-something year old oyster farmer, comes from an immigrant, working-class family that resides in the port city of Sète. When his marriage proposal to his long-time girlfriend Jess, an up-and-coming actress, doesn't go as planned and she ends the relationship - Az moves back home to wallow in his grief. His mother is convinced he’s done something wrong, his sister wants her bedroom back, and his friends are beside themselves over his extreme sensitivity. The only person to offer him a solution is Lila, who insists that she teach him to dance so he can make Jess jealous at an upcoming party.
Filmed on location in the beautiful southern port city of Sète, what could have been just a light-hearted romantic comedy somehow becomes something much more in the expert hands of writer-director Emma Benestan.
A wryly feminist update on romance, Hard Shell, Soft Shell features stunning Mediterranean scenery and an infectious soundtrack from the French-Arab diaspora.
“Hard Shell, Soft Shell makes people laugh thanks to its singular way of grasping serious themes with the use of humor.” – Renaud Baronian, Le Parisien