The film begins with nightmare images: the sisters September (Pascale Kann) and July (Mia Tharia) are dressed like the legendary ghost twins from Stanley Kubrick's “The Shining”. From off-screen, someone splashes red paint on their faces to complete the eerie scene. Then there is a flash. The photographer behind the camera is their depressed and distant mother Sheela (Rakhee Thakrar). The trauma, violence and deep unrest that director Ariane Labed delves into with relish in her debut film “September Says” are already anchored in this scene. The sisters are outsiders and become victims of racist attacks at their school. While shy July often withdraws, September takes on the role of protector and fights back. This dynamic also spills over into the family structure. “September Says” thrives on Labed's intense visual language and a dark atmosphere that oscillates between psychological horror and black humor. Themes such as female self-determination and the inheritance of patriarchal violence run like a red thread through the plot, without ending up as a simple tale of liberation. Ariane Labed became known as an actress in legendary works of the so-called Greek New Wave (“Attenberg”). With this debut film, she proves her talent as a director who finds the grotesque and the uncanny in the everyday. “September Says” is a dark, powerful study of the cosmos of femininity. The film celebrated its world premiere in Cannes in the Un Certain Regard series.