Two People Exchanging Saliva () is a 2024 French-language short drama film written and directed by Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh.
The United States and France co-production film premiered in the Telluride Film Festival at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on 30 August 2024. It tied with The Singers in winning Best Live Action Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards.
Summary In a dystopian world, kissing is considered inappropriate and a crime that is punishable by death, people avoid brushing their teeth and consume garlic to deter intimate interest, and payment is made in the form of accepting slaps on the face in proportion to equivalent price. Malaise is a young woman newly hired to an upscale department store, and attracts the interest of a wealthy housewife, Angine, to the chagrin and jealousy of her manager Pétulante, who has been Angine's usual sales associate.
Over the course of the next nine days, Malaise and Angine grow close, with Malaise persuading Angine to make larger purchases as an intrigued Angine finds herself becoming attracted to the young woman and enjoying her slaps. Malaise reciprocates her feelings, secretly purchasing a toothbrush and toothpaste from the black market in order to further seduce Angine despite the danger. In the bathroom, however, Pétulante hears Malaise brushing her teeth, an activity considered highly suspicious and taboo.
A woman is arrested in the department store for desperately trying to kiss her unwilling husband, leading to her arrest and execution by being bound, gagged, and thrown off a cliff in a cardboard box. Angine is aware of the danger, as her husband is a designer for these boxes, but after discovering prints of artwork depicting kissing in the woman's purse, she is unable to ignore her feelings any longer.
The next day, Angine brushes her teeth as well as drinking mint liqueur and hurries to the store to meet Malaise, determined to kiss her in private. However, she discovers that Pétulante had falsely claimed Malaise had attacked her and tried to kiss her, handing over her toothbrush and toothpaste to police to confirm the story. Devastated, Angine travels to the ravine full of executed victims and discovers Malaise's body, weeping over it.
A final flashback reveals that during Malaise's solitary birthday at her apartment, which had taken place days earlier, Malaise had wished for Angine to appear and join her, but despite a knock at the door, she had had no visitors; however, Angine had arrived at her apartment and knocked at the door, but then lost her courage and hid, forfeiting what would end up being her only opportunity to connect with Malaise.
Cast Zar Amir Ebrahimi as Angine Luàna Bajrami as Malaise Aurélie Boquien as Pétulante Vicky Krieps as the Narrator Nicolas Bouchaud as Chagrin Mitchell Jean as Jérémiade Mustapha Abourachid as Arnaque Thibaut De Lussy as Tuyaux Lucile Jaillant as Carie
Release Two People Exchanging Saliva premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado on August 30, 2024. The film’s Los Angeles premiere was at the AFI Fest “After Dark” shorts program on October 25, 2024.
It was screened as part of the Through the Looking Glass shorts program at the 2025 Seattle International Film Festival on May 17, 2025. It was also screened as part of the Official Selection of The Downtown Festival on October 15, 2025 in a shorts program that included films by Riley Lynch and Saodat Ismailova. The film had its online world premiere on November 21, 2025, via The New Yorker. In January 2026, Julianne Moore and Isabelle Huppert joined as executive producers of the film.
Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result AFI Fest 28 October 2024 Grand Jury Prize – Live Action ShortTwo People Exchanging Saliva Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival9 February 2025 Audience Prize Canal+ Award San Francisco International Film Festival30 April 2025 Golden Gate Award Mid-Length Film Award Prishtina International Film Festival 26 September 2025 Best Mid-Length Film Out on Film 6 October 2025 Best Drama Short Tallgrass Film Festival 21 October 2025 Best Narrative Short Savannah Film Festival1 November 2025Best Shorts Spotlight Brussels Independent Film Festival8 February 2026Best Narrative Short Film César Awards 26 February 2026 César Award for Best Fiction Short Film Academy AwardsMarch 15, 2026Best Live Action Short Film Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata
See also Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film 98th Academy Awards
Notes
References
External links
Trailer on YouTube