Macadam Stories

A weathered apartment complex forms the film's core arena, its dim corridors and broken elevator shaping the lives of its residents. The hospital wings and rooftop capsule landings punctuate the story, turning the building into a microcosm of urban dependency and care. The spaces evolve from confinement to fragile connection as strangers inhabit the same corridors.

🌃 Loneliness

The story threads through solitary lives kept afloat by small rituals and private defences. Sterkowitz clings to independence even as physical limits confine him to a wheelchair, while Jeanne and the other residents navigate long hours of silence and missed opportunities for empathy. The building's nightscape becomes a canvas for longing and the search for human contact.

🎭 Deception

The elevator scheme hinges on a calculated lie—Sterkowitz pretends to be a photographer to justify his nocturnal trips and to lure the nurse. The trick exposes the fragility of appearances and the cost of hiding true motives. Trust, once compromised, becomes costly and hard-won as truth emerges in quiet moments.

🤝 Care & Surrogate Family

Neighbors become makeshift family in the wake of accidents and separation. Madame Hamida's sheltering of John, her couscous rituals, and the home she offers shape a tender, maternal bond across language barriers. The apartment block thus transforms into a space where strangers learn to protect one another, even when the world outside is bureaucratic and indifferent.