At 12 years old and about 100 kilos, Kevin doesn’t have an easy life. Between the violence of his classmates, the bullying he suffers from his own sisters, the close eye his doctor keeps on him and the aqua-fit courses that are supposed to help him lose weight, he finds a certain consolation from his best friend Moukoumbi and the fragile Alice, who is also overweight. But despite the attention he gets from his mother, with no father in the picture Kevin continues to anesthetize his pain with sweets. Until he meets Patrick, a brash security guard and his dog Rocco. Kevin becomes friends with both, which will lead him into dangerous territory…

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With its less than flattering title and its dishonest poster, Bouboule presents itself like a broad comedy in every sense of the word, loudly colorized in the same vein as Petit Nicolas and Ducobu. A colossal error that will deceive mass audiences who go to see a sweet and pure comedy, and will keep away those who would have liked its actual bitter touch as a film much more mature than average. Largely inspired by his own experience, director Bruno Deville offers a very brutal portrait of a complicated childhood, and is uncompromising about aiming the camera on both his protagonist’s bulges and the violence of the boy’s entourage. Elegant direction gives this astonishing story a beautiful atmosphere reminiscent of American independent cinema, making for a very interesting debut film.