France TV Distribution has joined Laura’s Treatment, the acclaimed social thriller that recently won top honors at the La Rochelle Fiction Festival. The international distributor plans to launch sales at Mipcom in Cannes next week.
Produced by Tetra Media Fiction and Torcello, the four-part series stars Valerie Bonneton (Little White Lies) as Laura, a small-town pharmacist who runs a support group for victims of domestic violence. When one member of the group is killed in front of her eyes and another’s pleas for help go unheeded, Laura must take action. Swallowed by sadness and anger at a system that turns a blind eye, she takes justice into her own hands. But how far will she go to protect the women she’s sworn to protect?
In an interview with Le Parisien, co-creators Marie Cremer and Frédéric Krivine (The French Village) explained that although the series is not based on a true story, it deeply depicts real social issues. Kramer said she wanted to tell the story from the perspective of someone who wasn’t the direct victim and explore the “lack of justice for women” through fiction so viewers could empathize with her more.
Director Achim Isker said Boneton’s character reflects “us the audience,” ordinary people who are forced to act when the system fails. “We’re not providing answers,” he added. “Our aim is to raise questions and provoke debate.”
For Boneton, this shoot was one of the most emotionally challenging of her career. “It was painful, very difficult, and upsetting,” she said, recalling meetings with real survivors of domestic violence and the sobering statistic that 113 French women will be murdered by their partners or ex-partners in 2025, compared to 118 in 2024.
“We all know women who have gone through this,” Boneton continued. “So do I. Every year, 200,000 women make complaints, but many more remain silent out of fear. I know how Laura feels. She can’t take it anymore. She knows that more women will die, and she acts. It’s stronger than her, beyond reason, almost sacrilegious. I hope this series can help bring about change. I want to give these women a voice.”
