Watch the trailer for Ruth Caudeli’s Petit Mal

Petit Mal, written, directed and starring Ruth Caudeli alongside Silvia Varón and Ana María Otálora, wil be released by Dark Star Pictures in US cinemas on 27th January 2023. It then hits digital on 31st January 2023.

Anto, Marti, and Lai are a throuple blissfully living together in a remote house, with nothing but their beloved bundle of dogs keeping them company. When Lai leaves for a work trip, the balance is thrown off and Marti and Anto must adapt to being just the two of them. Suddenly, the dreaminess of their secluded home becomes isolating, and all they have to rely on is each other. In the spirit of honest and vulnerable openness, this semi-autobiographical blend of documentary and fiction from writer-director Ruth Caudeli is an invitation to experience the intimate details, both unique and universal, of the ups and downs and shifting dynamics in a polyamorous relationship.

The film, which screened Tribeca, Frameline and over 30 more worldwide, is described as “a must-see one-of-a-kind LGBTQI release inspired by the filmmaker’s own life.”

Says Caudeli said “I am in a polyamorous throuple. The three of us live happy together. But it was very difficult when we started our relationship. There are no audiovisual or narrative references. We didn’t feel represented on screen and we felt there is a lack of diverse stories about love stories. So I wanted to represent myself and my relationship on screen. And that became a way to represent diverse women as well. That’s why I make movies, to represent what is unrepresented, to show that we as women are different, complex and we need to be written by ourselves. It’s time to tell our own stories.”