Forbidden Games

Forbidden Games is set in France in June 1940, as civilians flee the German advance. Paulette, a young girl from Paris, loses her parents in an air raid and is taken in by a peasant family, the Dollés. She forms a close bond with their eleven-year-old son Michel. The two children build a small cemetery for dead animals, a private ritual that helps them cope with the death they have witnessed. When Michel begins stealing crosses to mark the graves, the adults around them object, and the harsh realities of the war threaten Paulette's place in the household.

René Clément directed and co-wrote the film with François Boyer; Robert Dorfmann produced it for Silver Films. It was the first of Clément's features in the chronological list of his work that includes Monsieur Ripois, Gervaise, Purple Noon, Joy House, Is Paris Burning? and Rider on the Rain. Brigitte Fossey plays Paulette and Georges Poujouly plays Michel, with Philippe de Chérisey, Laurence Badie, Suzanne Courtal and Lucien Hubert among the credited cast of 25. Running 87 minutes, the drama was released in May 1952.

On TMDB it holds a rating of 7.8 from 363 votes, indicating a strong audience response that has held up over time.