Duris stars as a father protecting his son, who may or may not be mutating, in Thomas Cailley’s well-crafted thriller
Thomas Cailley’s sci-fi fantasy has too much sensitivity and good taste to be the proper horror-thriller or creature feature that it almost resembles. It’s a drama of emotions and ideas about post-Covid society – which is welcome enough – but with a dash of prosthetics and CGI and some scares. I felt something very similar about Bong Joon-ho’s monster film The Host back in 2006: the worthiness operates against the excitement and I found myself wanting something more gleefully crass and shocking, something more ironic or thrillingly callous. The Animal Kingdom seems squeamish about going for the jugular in the way a proper genre movie would – or a Marvel movie.
The scene is a France of the near future in which there has been an outbreak of some...
Thomas Cailley’s sci-fi fantasy has too much sensitivity and good taste to be the proper horror-thriller or creature feature that it almost resembles. It’s a drama of emotions and ideas about post-Covid society – which is welcome enough – but with a dash of prosthetics and CGI and some scares. I felt something very similar about Bong Joon-ho’s monster film The Host back in 2006: the worthiness operates against the excitement and I found myself wanting something more gleefully crass and shocking, something more ironic or thrillingly callous. The Animal Kingdom seems squeamish about going for the jugular in the way a proper genre movie would – or a Marvel movie.
The scene is a France of the near future in which there has been an outbreak of some...
- 5/1/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Two of France’s fastest-rising young stars, Lyna Khoudri and Rio Vega, will lead the French voice cast of animated feature “In Waves,” an unconditional first love story, and tale of loss and memories adapting American illustrator Aj Dungo’s same-titled multi-prized graphic novel.
An anticipated banner prestige animation title from Paris-based Silex Films, “In Waves” lead producer, the feature also marks the first animated co-production of both Anonymous Content and Charades, behind sales of Jeremy Clapin’s “I Lost My Body” and Mamoru Hosoda’s “Mirai,” both Oscar nominated titles.
In Waves is directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen, a former student of French animation schools Gobelins and La Poudrière who helmed episodes of the Silex-produced animated series “Brazen” and was Oscar-shortlisted for her short “My Home,” “In Waves” has just been announced as one of five titles at the Annecy Animation Showcase, part of Cannes’ Animation Day on May...
An anticipated banner prestige animation title from Paris-based Silex Films, “In Waves” lead producer, the feature also marks the first animated co-production of both Anonymous Content and Charades, behind sales of Jeremy Clapin’s “I Lost My Body” and Mamoru Hosoda’s “Mirai,” both Oscar nominated titles.
In Waves is directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen, a former student of French animation schools Gobelins and La Poudrière who helmed episodes of the Silex-produced animated series “Brazen” and was Oscar-shortlisted for her short “My Home,” “In Waves” has just been announced as one of five titles at the Annecy Animation Showcase, part of Cannes’ Animation Day on May...
- 4/23/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
People are animals. Literally. Biologically. Much as our species has always tried to separate ourselves from the rest of God’s creations and reign above the “lesser creatures” who lack the curse of reason, there’s ultimately less difference than we’d like to imagine between homo sapiens and horses, or fish, or dogs.
And yet, from the first displays of tribalism to the days of strictly bordered nation-states, our instinct to other everything under the sun has defined us almost as much as our ability to walk upright. We like to think of humans as being made in God’s image, and yet our abiding need to justify our dominion — to find some way to live with our nagging awareness of death — has made it so that people can hardly even see themselves in their fellow man.
That’s by design. Anything that dares to challenge that dynamic is...
And yet, from the first displays of tribalism to the days of strictly bordered nation-states, our instinct to other everything under the sun has defined us almost as much as our ability to walk upright. We like to think of humans as being made in God’s image, and yet our abiding need to justify our dominion — to find some way to live with our nagging awareness of death — has made it so that people can hardly even see themselves in their fellow man.
That’s by design. Anything that dares to challenge that dynamic is...
- 3/15/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
A trio of moderate releases – One Life, The American Society Of Magical Negroes and Knox Goes Away join Janus Films’ celebration of master musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, and César award winning The Animal Kingdom as the next wave of 2024 indie films rolls out post-Oscars.
Focus Features’ American Society Of Magical Negroes, the feature directorial debut of Kobi Libii opens at 1,146 theaters across the North America. Premiered at Sundance, see Deadline review. A satirical comedy about a young man, Aren (Justice Smith) who is recruited by Roger (David Alan Grier) into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making sure white people never feel bad about themselves or get stressed out — because bad things happen when they do. Also stars Rupert Friend, Michaela Watkins, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver and Nicole Byer. Libii originally developed the project as an alumnus of both the Sundance Writers and Directors Labs.
Focus Features’ American Society Of Magical Negroes, the feature directorial debut of Kobi Libii opens at 1,146 theaters across the North America. Premiered at Sundance, see Deadline review. A satirical comedy about a young man, Aren (Justice Smith) who is recruited by Roger (David Alan Grier) into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making sure white people never feel bad about themselves or get stressed out — because bad things happen when they do. Also stars Rupert Friend, Michaela Watkins, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver and Nicole Byer. Libii originally developed the project as an alumnus of both the Sundance Writers and Directors Labs.
- 3/15/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
As far as high concepts scenarios go, Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom has been blessed with a primo what-if premise: France is in the middle of a pandemic. (No, not that one.) A good deal of the population has been stricken with what doctors and scientists have been calling a “mutation.” Whether it’s a natural evolution or some sort of devolution caused by man-made factors is anyone’s guess. But the symptoms are basically a slow, steady transformation into …an animal.
It could be a bird, like the...
It could be a bird, like the...
- 3/15/2024
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
A visionary thriller from director Thomas Cailley, Magnet’s The Animal Kingdom drops us into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures. Think Clive Barker’s Nightbreed meets modern arthouse cinema.
Magnet just released the film in theaters and on VOD today, March 15.
To whet your appetite, you can check out an exclusive clip below, which begins a body horror transformation. Like all good body horror, we must admit it’s a little hard to watch…
From acclaimed director Thomas Cailley, the film world premiered as the opening night selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard. Watch the official trailer for The Animal Kingdom below.
In The Animal Kingdom, “François (Roman Duris) does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile (Paul Kircher), their 16-year-old son,...
Magnet just released the film in theaters and on VOD today, March 15.
To whet your appetite, you can check out an exclusive clip below, which begins a body horror transformation. Like all good body horror, we must admit it’s a little hard to watch…
From acclaimed director Thomas Cailley, the film world premiered as the opening night selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard. Watch the official trailer for The Animal Kingdom below.
In The Animal Kingdom, “François (Roman Duris) does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile (Paul Kircher), their 16-year-old son,...
- 3/15/2024
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
The Animal Kingdom (Thomas Cailley)
In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp from France, human-animal mutations are the new norm. Director Thomas Cailley begins things in media res with a familiar disaster-movie scene: François (Romain Duris) and Émile (Paul Kircher)––father and son, respectively––are stuck in traffic, making chit-chat, when something slowly begins capturing the attention of other drivers. An ambulance across the way begins to rumble. Then a man with a large winged arm bursts out, causing some damage before scurrying down a tunnel. Only mildly ruffled, François exchanges a jaded aphorism with another driver over: “Strange times.” – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Dream Scenario (Kristoffer Borgli)
The ever-evolving nature of fame and infamy gets examined in Dream Scenario,...
The Animal Kingdom (Thomas Cailley)
In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp from France, human-animal mutations are the new norm. Director Thomas Cailley begins things in media res with a familiar disaster-movie scene: François (Romain Duris) and Émile (Paul Kircher)––father and son, respectively––are stuck in traffic, making chit-chat, when something slowly begins capturing the attention of other drivers. An ambulance across the way begins to rumble. Then a man with a large winged arm bursts out, causing some damage before scurrying down a tunnel. Only mildly ruffled, François exchanges a jaded aphorism with another driver over: “Strange times.” – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Dream Scenario (Kristoffer Borgli)
The ever-evolving nature of fame and infamy gets examined in Dream Scenario,...
- 3/15/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
“The Animal Kingdom” is a new ‘mutant’ science fiction thriller, directed by Thomas Cailley, starring Romain Duris, Paul Kircher, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Tom Mercier, Billie Blain, Nathalie Richard, Saadia Bentaieb, Gabriel Caballero, Iliana Khelifa, and Paul Muguruza, releasing March 15, 2024 in theaters:
“..immerse into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures, as ‘François’ does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition.
“As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with ‘Emile’, their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer…”
Cluck the images to enlarge…...
“..immerse into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures, as ‘François’ does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition.
“As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with ‘Emile’, their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer…”
Cluck the images to enlarge…...
- 3/15/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
by Chad Kennerk
Director Thomas Cailley behind the scenes.
All images courtesy of Magnet Releasing
While participating in a jury at the French film school La Fémis, writer/director Thomas Cailley read a script by Pauline Munier exploring a hybridization between humans and animals. It was a metaphor that fascinated Cailley, one that would provide an opportunity to talk about the world we inherit and the one we leave behind for future generations. Cailley and Munier began developing the script in 2019 and the eventual introduction of a certain world-disrupting virus validated their idea of what a new normal might look like and demonstrated how quickly humans adapt in unforeseen circumstances. Firmly cemented as a recent memory in society, the pandemic experience provides yet another lens to view Cailley’s multi-layered creation The Animal Kingdom.
Following his 2014 feature debut Love at First Fight, The Animal Kingdom marks Thomas Cailley’s second feature as writer/director.
Director Thomas Cailley behind the scenes.
All images courtesy of Magnet Releasing
While participating in a jury at the French film school La Fémis, writer/director Thomas Cailley read a script by Pauline Munier exploring a hybridization between humans and animals. It was a metaphor that fascinated Cailley, one that would provide an opportunity to talk about the world we inherit and the one we leave behind for future generations. Cailley and Munier began developing the script in 2019 and the eventual introduction of a certain world-disrupting virus validated their idea of what a new normal might look like and demonstrated how quickly humans adapt in unforeseen circumstances. Firmly cemented as a recent memory in society, the pandemic experience provides yet another lens to view Cailley’s multi-layered creation The Animal Kingdom.
Following his 2014 feature debut Love at First Fight, The Animal Kingdom marks Thomas Cailley’s second feature as writer/director.
- 3/15/2024
- by Chad Kennerk
- Film Review Daily
Two years after a mysterious malady began to sweep through France, humans continue to mutate into other animal species. Hybrid creatures who aren’t sitting in rehabilitation clinics that are really detention centers roam the streets and countryside. And while there are humans who are paranoid about the malady, pleading for members of their communities to keep each other safe, much of society has adjusted just fine to this strange new reality.
If Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom sounds like a sociopolitical allegory for a certain pandemic, that’s more an accident of timing than of intention, as the film, which was co-written by Cailley and Pauline Munier, was conceived before Covid-19 was even known to us. In fact, The Animal Kingdom is an allegory for many different ideas, from race relations to coming into one’s queerness. And while its genre hybridity is apt given its premise, in...
If Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom sounds like a sociopolitical allegory for a certain pandemic, that’s more an accident of timing than of intention, as the film, which was co-written by Cailley and Pauline Munier, was conceived before Covid-19 was even known to us. In fact, The Animal Kingdom is an allegory for many different ideas, from race relations to coming into one’s queerness. And while its genre hybridity is apt given its premise, in...
- 3/1/2024
- by Greg Nussen
- Slant Magazine
The César Awards are always the biggest night of the year for French cinema, but the massive award season impact of “Anatomy of a Fall” ensured that this year’s event took on additional importance for Oscar watchers around the globe. When the 49th César Awards took place in Paris on Friday night, all eyes were on Justine Triet and her Palme d’Or-winning film.
Predictably, “Anatomy of a Fall” swept many of the night’s biggest categories. In addition to winning the top prize of Best Film, Triet was honored with Best Director and shared Best Screenplay with her partner Arthur Harari. Stars Sandra Hüller and Swann Arlaud also won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.
The night’s other big winner was Thomas Cailley’s “The Animal Kingdom,” which won awards for Cinematography, Visual Effects, Costume Design, and Sound.
Keep reading for a complete list of winners from the 2024 César Awards.
Predictably, “Anatomy of a Fall” swept many of the night’s biggest categories. In addition to winning the top prize of Best Film, Triet was honored with Best Director and shared Best Screenplay with her partner Arthur Harari. Stars Sandra Hüller and Swann Arlaud also won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.
The night’s other big winner was Thomas Cailley’s “The Animal Kingdom,” which won awards for Cinematography, Visual Effects, Costume Design, and Sound.
Keep reading for a complete list of winners from the 2024 César Awards.
- 2/23/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Justine Triet became the second female filmmaker in the Cesar Award’s 49-year history to win the best director trophy for “Anatomy of a Fall,” which also won best film, original screenplay, actress for Sandra Huller, supporting actor for Swann Arlaud and editing at the French film industry’s big night. Thomas Cailley’s supernatural drama “The Animal Kingdom” also dominated the race, picking up a raft of prizes, including cinematography, costumes, visual effects and music. The ceremony unfolded at the Olympia Theater in Paris on Friday evening and aired lived on Canal+.
Triet’s movie, which is vying for five Oscars, stars Hüller as a novelist who is put on trial following the mysterious death of her husband at their remote chalet. The movie is produced by Marie-Ange Luciani at Les Films de Pierre and David Thion at Les Films Pelleas.
Triet dedicated her best film award to all women,...
Triet’s movie, which is vying for five Oscars, stars Hüller as a novelist who is put on trial following the mysterious death of her husband at their remote chalet. The movie is produced by Marie-Ange Luciani at Les Films de Pierre and David Thion at Les Films Pelleas.
Triet dedicated her best film award to all women,...
- 2/23/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Aurore (Louise Chevillotte) with André Masson (Alex Lutz) at Scottie’s in Pascal Bonitzer’s mysterious and witty Auction (Le Tableau Volé)
Catherine Breillat’s incomparably daring Last Summer starring Léa Drucker, Samuel Kircher, and Olivier Rabourdin has received four César nominations: Best Director and Adapted Screenplay, Actress (Léa Drucker), Male Revelation (Samuel Kircher in competition with his brother Paul Kircher for Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom). In the first installment with Pascal Bonitzer, we start out discussing his work on Last Summer which is based on May el-Toukhy’s 2019 film Queen of Hearts and then delve into his latest film, Auction (Le Tableau Volé).
Pascal Bonitzer with Anne-Katrin Titze on Scottie’s in Auction: “It’s an allusion to Vertigo because it’s a great movie. Scottie’s, yes, it’s Sotheby’s, it’s Christie’s, it’s a big auction house.”
Pascal Bonitzer, who put a...
Catherine Breillat’s incomparably daring Last Summer starring Léa Drucker, Samuel Kircher, and Olivier Rabourdin has received four César nominations: Best Director and Adapted Screenplay, Actress (Léa Drucker), Male Revelation (Samuel Kircher in competition with his brother Paul Kircher for Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom). In the first installment with Pascal Bonitzer, we start out discussing his work on Last Summer which is based on May el-Toukhy’s 2019 film Queen of Hearts and then delve into his latest film, Auction (Le Tableau Volé).
Pascal Bonitzer with Anne-Katrin Titze on Scottie’s in Auction: “It’s an allusion to Vertigo because it’s a great movie. Scottie’s, yes, it’s Sotheby’s, it’s Christie’s, it’s a big auction house.”
Pascal Bonitzer, who put a...
- 2/23/2024
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“The Animal Kingdom” is a new science fiction thriller, directed by Thomas Cailley, starring Romain Duris, Paul Kircher, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Tom Mercier, Billie Blain, Nathalie Richard, Saadia Bentaieb, Gabriel Caballero, Iliana Khelifa, and Paul Muguruza, releasing March 15, 2024 in theaters:
“..immerse into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures, as ‘François’ does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition.
“As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with ‘Emile’, their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer…”
Cluck the images to enlarge…...
“..immerse into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures, as ‘François’ does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition.
“As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with ‘Emile’, their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer…”
Cluck the images to enlarge…...
- 2/9/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"They're living beings, like us!" Magnolia Pictures has unveiled the first official US trailer for an impressive French fairy tale thriller titled The Animal Kingdom, from filmmaker Thomas Cailley. This premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last year, and it also played at the Karlovy Vary, Vancouver, Sitges Film Fests and Fantastic Fest. Now set to arrive in the US this March. The film is an adventure between a father and his son, in a world where some humans have started mutating into other animal species. It is a mutant movie unlike any ever seen before, with hyper-realistic effects and prosthetics for all the creature characters. Plus a heartfelt story about a father and son trying to figure out how to navigate this strange, new society they've found themselves existing within. The Animal Kingdom stars Romain Duris, Paul Kircher, and Adèle Exarchopoulos. I wrote a strong review from Cannes, saying...
- 2/8/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The French horror film The Animal Kingdom has been making the festival rounds for the last year, and after reaching theatres in its home country last October it ended up earning 12 Nominations at this year’s César Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor. We’ll have to wait a couple weeks to find out if it’s going to win those César Awards (the ceremony is set to be held on February 23rd), but in the meantime a trailer for the film’s American release has made its way online and can be seen in the embed above. Magnet Releasing will be giving The Animal Kingdom a theatrical and VOD release on March 15th.
Directed by Thomas Cailley, who also wrote the screenplay with Pauline Munier, The Animal Kingdom, which is described as “a visionary thriller”, drops viewers into an extraordinary world where mutations...
Directed by Thomas Cailley, who also wrote the screenplay with Pauline Munier, The Animal Kingdom, which is described as “a visionary thriller”, drops viewers into an extraordinary world where mutations...
- 2/8/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
The thin line between humans and animals is blurred even further in writer/director Thomas Cailley’s “The Animal Kingdom.”
The surreal thriller, which is co-written by Pauline Munier, imagines a world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures. When François’ (Romain Duris) wife becomes affected by this mysterious condition and disappears into a nearby forest, he enlists the help of a local police officer (Adèle Exarchopoulos) to find her. François’ son Emile (Paul Kircher) joins the quest to reunite the family.
“The Animal Kingdom” premiered as the opening night selection of the 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard. It went on to be nominated for 12 César Awards and will next screen as the opening night selection of Rendezvous with French Cinema in New York on February 29.
Writer/director Cailley said in a press statement that “The Animal Kingdom” opens a new door into post-apocalyptic narratives. “The...
The surreal thriller, which is co-written by Pauline Munier, imagines a world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures. When François’ (Romain Duris) wife becomes affected by this mysterious condition and disappears into a nearby forest, he enlists the help of a local police officer (Adèle Exarchopoulos) to find her. François’ son Emile (Paul Kircher) joins the quest to reunite the family.
“The Animal Kingdom” premiered as the opening night selection of the 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard. It went on to be nominated for 12 César Awards and will next screen as the opening night selection of Rendezvous with French Cinema in New York on February 29.
Writer/director Cailley said in a press statement that “The Animal Kingdom” opens a new door into post-apocalyptic narratives. “The...
- 2/8/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
A visionary thriller from director Thomas Cailley, Magnet’s The Animal Kingdom drops us into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures. Think Clive Barker’s Nightbreed meets modern arthouse cinema.
Magnet will release the film in theaters and on VOD March 15th, 2024.
Watch the official trailer for The Animal Kingdom below. From acclaimed director Thomas Cailley, the film world premiered as the opening night selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard.
In The Animal Kingdom, “François (Roman Duris) does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile (Paul Kircher), their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer (Adèle Exarchopoulos).”
Thomas Cailley and Pauline Munier wrote the screenplay.
The post ‘The Animal Kingdom’ Trailer – Animal...
Magnet will release the film in theaters and on VOD March 15th, 2024.
Watch the official trailer for The Animal Kingdom below. From acclaimed director Thomas Cailley, the film world premiered as the opening night selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard.
In The Animal Kingdom, “François (Roman Duris) does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile (Paul Kircher), their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer (Adèle Exarchopoulos).”
Thomas Cailley and Pauline Munier wrote the screenplay.
The post ‘The Animal Kingdom’ Trailer – Animal...
- 2/8/2024
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
While the Animorphs franchise may not be what it was in its late 1990s heyday, French director Thomas Cailley has your fix with his new thriller The Animal Kingdom. The Cannes premiere, which just racked up a whopping 12 César Awards nominations, imagines a world of mutations in human genetics that cause people to transform into hybrid creatures. Starring Romain Duris, Paul Kircher, and Adèle Exarchopoulos, Magnet Releasing will now debut the film in the U.S. starting at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at the end of the month, followed by a March 15 theatrical and digital release. Ahead of the bow, they’ve released a new trailer.
Rory O’Connor said in his review, “In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp from France, human-animal mutations are the new norm. Director Thomas Cailley begins things in media res with a familiar disaster-movie scene: François (Romain Duris) and Émile (Paul Kircher)––father and son,...
Rory O’Connor said in his review, “In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp from France, human-animal mutations are the new norm. Director Thomas Cailley begins things in media res with a familiar disaster-movie scene: François (Romain Duris) and Émile (Paul Kircher)––father and son,...
- 2/8/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Out of the woods … The Animal Kingdom emerges as top César contender with acting nods for Paul Kircher and Romain Duris as father and son Photo: UniFrance
Just in case awards watchers were becoming numbed by the almost solo meteoric rise of Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, another French title from second time director Thomas Cailley has actually nabbed more nominations than any other film in the race towards the 49th Césars ceremony in Paris on 23 February.
Adèle Exarchopoulos (left) and Elodie Bouchet nominated for best supporting actress Césars Photo: UniFrance
Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom just pipped Anatomy Of A Fall with 12 nominations to 11 for Triet’s film, which already has scooped five Oscar nods. The Animal Kingdom, starring Romain Duris and Paul Kircher (also both nominated in acting categories), is an eco-drama revolving around a father and son relationship, set against the...
Just in case awards watchers were becoming numbed by the almost solo meteoric rise of Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, another French title from second time director Thomas Cailley has actually nabbed more nominations than any other film in the race towards the 49th Césars ceremony in Paris on 23 February.
Adèle Exarchopoulos (left) and Elodie Bouchet nominated for best supporting actress Césars Photo: UniFrance
Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom just pipped Anatomy Of A Fall with 12 nominations to 11 for Triet’s film, which already has scooped five Oscar nods. The Animal Kingdom, starring Romain Duris and Paul Kircher (also both nominated in acting categories), is an eco-drama revolving around a father and son relationship, set against the...
- 1/24/2024
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Justine Triet’s Oscar-nominated Anatomy of a Fall and Thomas Cailley’s fantasy drama The Animal Kingdom are the front runners for this year’s Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Academy Awards. In nominations announced Wednesday, Anatomy picked up 11 Cesar noms and The Animal Kingdom 12. Both were nominated in the best film and best director categories.
Also nominated for best film are Jean-Baptiste Durand’s Junkyard Dog, All Your Faces from director Jeanne Herry and Cédric Kahn’s The Goldman Case.
France’s official Academy Award contender, Anh Hung Tran’s foodie period drama The Taste of Things, which missed out on an Oscar nom on Tuesday, picked up three Ceasar nominations, but none in the main categories.
German actress Sandra Hüller, a best actress nominee at this year’s Oscars for her starring turn in Anatomy of a Fall, is also up for the Cesar for best actress,...
Also nominated for best film are Jean-Baptiste Durand’s Junkyard Dog, All Your Faces from director Jeanne Herry and Cédric Kahn’s The Goldman Case.
France’s official Academy Award contender, Anh Hung Tran’s foodie period drama The Taste of Things, which missed out on an Oscar nom on Tuesday, picked up three Ceasar nominations, but none in the main categories.
German actress Sandra Hüller, a best actress nominee at this year’s Oscars for her starring turn in Anatomy of a Fall, is also up for the Cesar for best actress,...
- 1/24/2024
- by Scott Roxborough and Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Thomas Cailley’s fantasy drama The Animal Kingdom topped the nominations for France’s César Awards, which were announced in Paris on Wednesday.
The drama picked up 12 nominations with Justine Triet’s Oscar hopeful Anatomy Of A Fall coming in second with 11 nominations, followed by Jeanne Herry’s All Your Faces, which nine, and The Goldman Case, with eight.
Set in a world where human beings start transmuting into animals, The Animal Kingdom world premiered as the opening film of Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2023 and went on to make $8.5M at the box office last fall.
The Animal Kingdom and Anatomy of a Fall are competing in eight categories spanning Best Film, Director, Original Screenplay, Male Revelation, Editing, Sound, Cinematography and Production Design.
The high nomination count for Herry’s ensemble drama All Your Faces was thanks to the fact it dominated the Supporting Actress category with separate nominations for cast members Leila Bekhti,...
The drama picked up 12 nominations with Justine Triet’s Oscar hopeful Anatomy Of A Fall coming in second with 11 nominations, followed by Jeanne Herry’s All Your Faces, which nine, and The Goldman Case, with eight.
Set in a world where human beings start transmuting into animals, The Animal Kingdom world premiered as the opening film of Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2023 and went on to make $8.5M at the box office last fall.
The Animal Kingdom and Anatomy of a Fall are competing in eight categories spanning Best Film, Director, Original Screenplay, Male Revelation, Editing, Sound, Cinematography and Production Design.
The high nomination count for Herry’s ensemble drama All Your Faces was thanks to the fact it dominated the Supporting Actress category with separate nominations for cast members Leila Bekhti,...
- 1/24/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Thomas Cailley’s supernatural drama “The Animal Kingdom” and Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” are leading the race at the 49th Cesar Awards with 12 and 11 nominations, respectively.
Triet’s movie, which just garnered an impressive five Oscar nominations, and “The Animal Kingdom,” which opened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and won a prize, will vie for top Cesar awards including best director and film.
“The Animal Kingdom” is an ambitious film that marks a departure from France’s cinema tradition of social realism. It’s both a creature-filled dystopia and a father-and-son drama, weaving some contemporary concerns over the future of mankind. It’s produced by Pierre Guyard at Nord Ouest Films and co-produced by Artemis.
“Anatomy of a Fall,” meanwhile stars Sandra Hüller — the German actor nominated for Cesar, Oscar and BAFTA awards — as a novelist who is put on trial following the...
Triet’s movie, which just garnered an impressive five Oscar nominations, and “The Animal Kingdom,” which opened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and won a prize, will vie for top Cesar awards including best director and film.
“The Animal Kingdom” is an ambitious film that marks a departure from France’s cinema tradition of social realism. It’s both a creature-filled dystopia and a father-and-son drama, weaving some contemporary concerns over the future of mankind. It’s produced by Pierre Guyard at Nord Ouest Films and co-produced by Artemis.
“Anatomy of a Fall,” meanwhile stars Sandra Hüller — the German actor nominated for Cesar, Oscar and BAFTA awards — as a novelist who is put on trial following the...
- 1/24/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based sales company is bringing eight new titles to Rendez-Vous.
Julie Delpy’s immigration-themed comedy Meet The Barbarians (Les Barbares) is among eight new titles Paris-based sales company Charades is launching at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema this month.
The event takes place from January 16-23 in Paris.
Charades extensive Rendez-Vous line-up also includes 3D animation Flow, romantic comedy Just A Couple of Days starring Camille Cottin, Jeremie Sein’s Olympic sports comedy Game Changers, Antoine Raimbault’s political thriller Smoke Signals, Gustave Kervern’s revenge story Enough Is Enough!, dark comedy Plastic Guns plus recently announced adaptation And...
Julie Delpy’s immigration-themed comedy Meet The Barbarians (Les Barbares) is among eight new titles Paris-based sales company Charades is launching at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema this month.
The event takes place from January 16-23 in Paris.
Charades extensive Rendez-Vous line-up also includes 3D animation Flow, romantic comedy Just A Couple of Days starring Camille Cottin, Jeremie Sein’s Olympic sports comedy Game Changers, Antoine Raimbault’s political thriller Smoke Signals, Gustave Kervern’s revenge story Enough Is Enough!, dark comedy Plastic Guns plus recently announced adaptation And...
- 1/9/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Paris-base sales house boards literary adaptation ’And Their Children After Them’ and dark comedy ’Lucky Winners’
Paris-based sales house Charades will represent international sales rights to French star-powered adaptation And Their Children After Them and dark comedy Lucky Winners. Both titles will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in France and Benelux.
And Their Children After Them (Leurs Enfants Après Eux) is directed by French twin brother writing-directing duo Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma and adapted from Nicolas Mathieu’s Prix Goncourt-winning book of the same name. The Boukhermas made their debut in Cannes’ Acid with Willy the 1st then followed with 2020 Official Selection Teddy.
Paris-based sales house Charades will represent international sales rights to French star-powered adaptation And Their Children After Them and dark comedy Lucky Winners. Both titles will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in France and Benelux.
And Their Children After Them (Leurs Enfants Après Eux) is directed by French twin brother writing-directing duo Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma and adapted from Nicolas Mathieu’s Prix Goncourt-winning book of the same name. The Boukhermas made their debut in Cannes’ Acid with Willy the 1st then followed with 2020 Official Selection Teddy.
- 1/8/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Paris-base sales house boards literary adaptation ’And Their Children After Them’ and dark comedy ’Lucky Winners’
Paris-based sales house Charades will represent international sales rights to French star-powered adaptation And Their Children After Them and dark comedy Lucky Winners. Both titles will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in France and Benelux.
And Their Children After Them (Leurs Enfants Après Eux) is directed by French twin brother writing-directing duo Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma and adapted from Nicolas Mathieu’s Prix Goncourt-winning book of the same name. The Boukhermas made their debut in Cannes’ Acid with Willy the 1st then followed with 2020 Official Selection Teddy.
Paris-based sales house Charades will represent international sales rights to French star-powered adaptation And Their Children After Them and dark comedy Lucky Winners. Both titles will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in France and Benelux.
And Their Children After Them (Leurs Enfants Après Eux) is directed by French twin brother writing-directing duo Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma and adapted from Nicolas Mathieu’s Prix Goncourt-winning book of the same name. The Boukhermas made their debut in Cannes’ Acid with Willy the 1st then followed with 2020 Official Selection Teddy.
- 1/8/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Catherine Breillat on Léa Drucker in Last Summer (L’Été Dernier) and Alfred Hitchcock’s heroine wardrobe: “I said to Léa, think about Vertigo and Kim Novak! But then I think she is more Tippi Hedren.”
Catherine Breillat’s Last Summer stars Léa Drucker and Samuel Kircher with Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Serena Hu, and Angela Chen. The film is based on May el-Toukhy’s 2019 Queen of Hearts, starring Trine Dyrholm, Gustav Lindh, and Magnus Krepper. Last Summer shares a theme with the NYFF Opening Night Gala selection, Todd Haynes’s May December, where a reversal of age also takes central stage.
Catherine Breillat, with Anne-Katrin Titze, reveals the Christophe Honoré, Winter Boy, Paul Kircher and Samuel Kircher connection for Last Summer
Breillat, incomparably daring as ever, tells the story of Anne (Drucker), a successful lawyer, who lives with her businessman husband Pierre (Rabourdin) and their two headstrong, adopted daughters,...
Catherine Breillat’s Last Summer stars Léa Drucker and Samuel Kircher with Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Serena Hu, and Angela Chen. The film is based on May el-Toukhy’s 2019 Queen of Hearts, starring Trine Dyrholm, Gustav Lindh, and Magnus Krepper. Last Summer shares a theme with the NYFF Opening Night Gala selection, Todd Haynes’s May December, where a reversal of age also takes central stage.
Catherine Breillat, with Anne-Katrin Titze, reveals the Christophe Honoré, Winter Boy, Paul Kircher and Samuel Kircher connection for Last Summer
Breillat, incomparably daring as ever, tells the story of Anne (Drucker), a successful lawyer, who lives with her businessman husband Pierre (Rabourdin) and their two headstrong, adopted daughters,...
- 12/14/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp from France, human-animal mutations are the new norm. Director Thomas Cailley begins things in media res with a familiar disaster-movie scene: François (Romain Duris) and Émile (Paul Kircher)––father and son, respectively––are stuck in traffic, making chit-chat, when something slowly begins capturing the attention of other drivers. An ambulance across the way begins to rumble. Then a man with a large winged arm bursts out, causing some damage before scurrying down a tunnel. Only mildly ruffled, François exchanges a jaded aphorism with another driver over: “Strange times.”
That blasé mood provides an attractive entry point to Cailley’s world: the mutants in The Animal Kingdom are a fledgling phenomenon, but the unaffected are still trying to get to work on time. At film’s start, François is taking Émile to visit his mother, who is one of the unlucky few.
That blasé mood provides an attractive entry point to Cailley’s world: the mutants in The Animal Kingdom are a fledgling phenomenon, but the unaffected are still trying to get to work on time. At film’s start, François is taking Émile to visit his mother, who is one of the unlucky few.
- 12/6/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
16 nominees in each category will compete in the first round of voting.
France’s Cesar Academy has revealed the breakout stars selected for its annual Revelations list of local up-and-coming talent who will vie in the most promising actor and actress categories at the 2024 awards set for February 23 in Paris.
16 nominees in each category will compete in the first round of voting among Academy members, that will then be whittled down to five in each category.
The Revelations committee is comprised of 18 casting directors active in French film production and is then validated by the board of the Academy.
Scroll...
France’s Cesar Academy has revealed the breakout stars selected for its annual Revelations list of local up-and-coming talent who will vie in the most promising actor and actress categories at the 2024 awards set for February 23 in Paris.
16 nominees in each category will compete in the first round of voting among Academy members, that will then be whittled down to five in each category.
The Revelations committee is comprised of 18 casting directors active in French film production and is then validated by the board of the Academy.
Scroll...
- 11/16/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
France’s César Academy has unveiled its annual Revelations list showcasing 32 emerging acting talents making their mark in the French-speaking cinema world.
The 16 selected actresses include Suzy Bemba for her performance year in Catherine Corsini’s Homecoming. Bemba was also seen in Venice Golden Lion winner Poor Things this year.
The selection also features Rebecca Marder for Corsica-set thriller Grand Expectations; Garance Marillier, for bio-pic Marinette about French female soccer pioneer Marinette Pichon, and Park Ji-min for her award-winning performance in Return To Seoul.
The actor list includes Milo Machado Graner, who plays the visually impaired son in Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Marc Zinga’s for his performance in Belgium’s Oscar entry Omen and Samuel Kircher for Catherine Breillat’s taboo-breaking drama Last Summer. His brother Paul Kircher is also in the selection for The Animal Kingdom.
The talents were selected by a committee of...
The 16 selected actresses include Suzy Bemba for her performance year in Catherine Corsini’s Homecoming. Bemba was also seen in Venice Golden Lion winner Poor Things this year.
The selection also features Rebecca Marder for Corsica-set thriller Grand Expectations; Garance Marillier, for bio-pic Marinette about French female soccer pioneer Marinette Pichon, and Park Ji-min for her award-winning performance in Return To Seoul.
The actor list includes Milo Machado Graner, who plays the visually impaired son in Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Marc Zinga’s for his performance in Belgium’s Oscar entry Omen and Samuel Kircher for Catherine Breillat’s taboo-breaking drama Last Summer. His brother Paul Kircher is also in the selection for The Animal Kingdom.
The talents were selected by a committee of...
- 11/16/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The selection committee will now meet with the films’ producers, sales companies and US distributors.
Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy Of A Fall and The Taste Of Things by Cannes’ best director winner Tran Anh Hung have been shortlisted to be France’s entry to the international Oscar category, along with Clement Cogitore’s Sons Of Ramses, Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom and Denis Imbert’s On The Wandering Paths (Sur Les Chemins Noirs).
The five films were selected by a seven-member committee comprised of the US producer of Coda, Patrick Wachsberger, composer Alexandre Desplat, producer Charles Gillibert...
Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy Of A Fall and The Taste Of Things by Cannes’ best director winner Tran Anh Hung have been shortlisted to be France’s entry to the international Oscar category, along with Clement Cogitore’s Sons Of Ramses, Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom and Denis Imbert’s On The Wandering Paths (Sur Les Chemins Noirs).
The five films were selected by a seven-member committee comprised of the US producer of Coda, Patrick Wachsberger, composer Alexandre Desplat, producer Charles Gillibert...
- 9/13/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
France has unveiled the five titles in the running to be its entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.
The full shortlist is:
Anatomy Of A Fall by Justine Triet The Animal Kingdom by Thomas Cailley Sons of Ramses (Goutte d’Or) by Clement Cogitore (int’l sales, mk2 films) The Taste Of Things (previously The Pot-Au-Feu) by Tràn Anh Hùng On The Wondering Paths by Denis Imbert)
The short list was decided by a selection committee of film professionals on Wednesday in a process overseen by the country’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc).
This year’s committee features former Lionsgate film co-chief Patrick Wachsberger; international sales veterans Sabine Chemaly...
The full shortlist is:
Anatomy Of A Fall by Justine Triet The Animal Kingdom by Thomas Cailley Sons of Ramses (Goutte d’Or) by Clement Cogitore (int’l sales, mk2 films) The Taste Of Things (previously The Pot-Au-Feu) by Tràn Anh Hùng On The Wondering Paths by Denis Imbert)
The short list was decided by a selection committee of film professionals on Wednesday in a process overseen by the country’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc).
This year’s committee features former Lionsgate film co-chief Patrick Wachsberger; international sales veterans Sabine Chemaly...
- 9/13/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Distributor plans 2024 release.
Magnet Releasing, Magnolia Pictures’ genre arm, has acquired US rights from Studiocanal to Cannes Un Certain Regard selection The Animal Kingdom.
‘The Animal Kingdom’: Cannes Review
Thomas Cailley, who was last in Cannes in 2014 with Directors’ Fortnight entry Love At First Fight, directed the story of genetic mutations that are causing humans to become hybrid creatures.
It stars Roman Duris, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Paul Kircher. Cailley co-wrote the screenplay with Pauline Munier, and Pierre Guyard produced the Nord-Ouest Films production. Magnet plans a 2024 release.
“The Animal Kingdom is a wild ride of a film,” said Magnolia Pictures...
Magnet Releasing, Magnolia Pictures’ genre arm, has acquired US rights from Studiocanal to Cannes Un Certain Regard selection The Animal Kingdom.
‘The Animal Kingdom’: Cannes Review
Thomas Cailley, who was last in Cannes in 2014 with Directors’ Fortnight entry Love At First Fight, directed the story of genetic mutations that are causing humans to become hybrid creatures.
It stars Roman Duris, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Paul Kircher. Cailley co-wrote the screenplay with Pauline Munier, and Pierre Guyard produced the Nord-Ouest Films production. Magnet plans a 2024 release.
“The Animal Kingdom is a wild ride of a film,” said Magnolia Pictures...
- 7/20/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, has bought U.S. rights to “The Animal Kingdom,” Thomas Cailley’s creature-filled dystopian thriller which world premiered as the opening night selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard.
Produced by Pierre Guyard at Nord-Ouest Films, “The Animal Kingdom” was financed and co-produced by Studiocanal, which handles French distribution and international sales. The film is set in a world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures. It boasts stellar performances by Roman Duris (“Final Cut”), Adèle Exarchopoulos (“Blue Is the Warmest Color”) and Paul Kircher (“Winter Boy”). Magnet will release the film next year.
Duris stars as François, who sets off to save his wife, who has been affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile (Kircher), their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with...
Produced by Pierre Guyard at Nord-Ouest Films, “The Animal Kingdom” was financed and co-produced by Studiocanal, which handles French distribution and international sales. The film is set in a world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures. It boasts stellar performances by Roman Duris (“Final Cut”), Adèle Exarchopoulos (“Blue Is the Warmest Color”) and Paul Kircher (“Winter Boy”). Magnet will release the film next year.
Duris stars as François, who sets off to save his wife, who has been affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile (Kircher), their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with...
- 7/20/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Updated with latest: The Cannes Film Festival kicked off this year with opening-night movie Jeanne du Barry, and concluded Saturday evening with Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall scooping the Palme d’Or. Deadline was on the ground to watch all the key films. Here is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year saw Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness win the coveted top prize on its way to an Oscar Best Picture nomination.
Check out the reviews below, click on the titles to read them in full, and keep checking back as we add more.
About Dry Grasses ‘About Dry Grasses’
Section: Competition
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cast: Deniz Celiloglu, Ece Bagci, Merve Dizdar, Musab Ekici
Deadline’s takeaway: For Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s many fans, this is another opportunity to slip into his world, spot his sly political references and subside for a...
Check out the reviews below, click on the titles to read them in full, and keep checking back as we add more.
About Dry Grasses ‘About Dry Grasses’
Section: Competition
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cast: Deniz Celiloglu, Ece Bagci, Merve Dizdar, Musab Ekici
Deadline’s takeaway: For Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s many fans, this is another opportunity to slip into his world, spot his sly political references and subside for a...
- 5/27/2023
- by Pete Hammond, Damon Wise, Matthew Carey, Stephanie Bunbury and Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
It began in the son’s room, when the father was away on business. L’enfant thought it was l’amour, but for her, 30-odd years his senior, the sex, lies and audiotape were a mistake. Wild at heart, she’d yielded to the taste of … oh, never mind. Competing for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Catherine Breillat’s “Last Summer” echoes films that have come before — most notably, 2019 Danish drama “Queen of Hearts,” on which it’s based — but it proves most daring in the ways the film departs from its more conventionally moralistic source, and especially in Breillat’s refusal to call either party a parasite.
Yes, the affair between a lawyer and her 17-year-old stepson is a betrayal — of her marriage, of her parental responsibilities, of everything she stands for as an attorney — but that’s nothing compared with how the 50-ish woman deals with it...
Yes, the affair between a lawyer and her 17-year-old stepson is a betrayal — of her marriage, of her parental responsibilities, of everything she stands for as an attorney — but that’s nothing compared with how the 50-ish woman deals with it...
- 5/25/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Alain Attal and Hugo Selignac have formed a producing duo known for delivering original, starry French films that probe uneasy subjects that earn B.O. gold and critical laurels. Attal is in Cannes with Un Certain Regard title “Rosalie,” while Selignac has “Omar à la Fraise” in Critics’ Week.
The pair is now about to hit a new milestone in 2024, starting with Gilles Lellouche’s epic romance drama “L’Amour Ouf,” which boasts a budget of €32 million ($34 million) and marks Studiocanal’s biggest investment in a French-language film to date. They also have “And Their Children After Them,” an adaptation of Nicolas Mathieu’s Goncourt Prize-winning novel to be directed by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma (“Teddy”), which has been boarded by Warner Bros. France and HBO Max and France Televisions, the first French movie to bring together these three partners.
“L’Amour Ouf” also marks the first film co-acquired by Canal Plus,...
The pair is now about to hit a new milestone in 2024, starting with Gilles Lellouche’s epic romance drama “L’Amour Ouf,” which boasts a budget of €32 million ($34 million) and marks Studiocanal’s biggest investment in a French-language film to date. They also have “And Their Children After Them,” an adaptation of Nicolas Mathieu’s Goncourt Prize-winning novel to be directed by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma (“Teddy”), which has been boarded by Warner Bros. France and HBO Max and France Televisions, the first French movie to bring together these three partners.
“L’Amour Ouf” also marks the first film co-acquired by Canal Plus,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Director Thomas Cailley made an arresting debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015 as part of the Directors’ Fortnight with Love At First Fight or Les Combattants. He’s back in Un Certain Regard (with his brother David again as chief cinematographer) with an ecological piece of sci-fi fantasy that is breathtakingly well-paced and visually arresting.
During the break he has been working on television series but here he exploits the big screen experience in his take on the state of the planet in which people are literally being turned into animals of various descriptions.
The opening scenes in which a father and son (Romain Duris and Paul Kircher) are stuck in a horrendous traffic jam with the family’s pet dog in tow, could not be more mundane and barely prepare the audience for what is about to be unleashed. It would be churlish to divulge any more details.
During the break he has been working on television series but here he exploits the big screen experience in his take on the state of the planet in which people are literally being turned into animals of various descriptions.
The opening scenes in which a father and son (Romain Duris and Paul Kircher) are stuck in a horrendous traffic jam with the family’s pet dog in tow, could not be more mundane and barely prepare the audience for what is about to be unleashed. It would be churlish to divulge any more details.
- 5/17/2023
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
It’s a measure of the state we’re in today that Thomas Cailley’s follow-up to his 2014 debut Love at First Fight could be described as a metaphor for just about anything you like. It takes the surreal premise of Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2015 Cannes hit The Lobster and, through a peculiar kind of cinematic alchemy, makes a surprisingly credible family drama out of it. Its overarching themes of love and tolerance go a long way, and it’s by no means a stretch to see a bunch of current hot-button topics — the world refugee crisis, climate change and trans rights to name but three — refracted through Cailley’s lens.
In The Lobster, people who fail to find a partner at least get to choose what animal they would like to be, but in The Animal Kingdom — selected to open the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes — the process is way more random.
In The Lobster, people who fail to find a partner at least get to choose what animal they would like to be, but in The Animal Kingdom — selected to open the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes — the process is way more random.
- 5/17/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
While the world was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, French director Thomas Cailley was imagining another kind of coronavirus, one he’d cooked up before the crisis, but which suddenly took on new real-world relevance. In “The Animal Kingdom,” a mysterious malady is sweeping France, unlocking something at a genetic level that causes people to transform into hybrid creatures. The mutations are slow and somewhat unpredictable: One person might sprout feathers, observing over weeks as their arms develop into wings, while another grows scales and winds up slithering like a snake.
Through it all, 16-year-old Émile (Paul Kircher) and his father, François (Romain Duris), are just trying to stay calm, which isn’t easy when something akin to a zombie apocalypse has left the entire country jittery and suspicious. What’s causing the mutations? Is it contagious? Can the creatures be trusted, or are they a threat to others? A scar on Émile’s cheek,...
Through it all, 16-year-old Émile (Paul Kircher) and his father, François (Romain Duris), are just trying to stay calm, which isn’t easy when something akin to a zombie apocalypse has left the entire country jittery and suspicious. What’s causing the mutations? Is it contagious? Can the creatures be trusted, or are they a threat to others? A scar on Émile’s cheek,...
- 5/17/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Grief is the centerpiece of Christopher Honoré’s coming-of-age drama, which features a seventeen-year-old boy trying to stay afloat amidst the various worldly forces while being acutely aware of the transience of life. Following his father’s untimely death in a car accident, Lucas (Paul Kircher) desperately tries to seek answers to the greater questions of existence. Awkward yet wondrous, his tale of suffering seems to be an open letter that is borne into the unknown. It is no wonder that Honoré dedicates Winter Boy to his own father, as is revealed in the end credits.
In Winter Boy, Honoré explores sexuality against the backdrop of the all-pervasive motifs of death and love. The plot revolves around Lucas, his grieving mother (Juliette Binoche), and his brother Quentin (Vincent Lacoste) coping with their mutual loss—a loss that brings them together (at least in the loose sense of the term). But soon,...
In Winter Boy, Honoré explores sexuality against the backdrop of the all-pervasive motifs of death and love. The plot revolves around Lucas, his grieving mother (Juliette Binoche), and his brother Quentin (Vincent Lacoste) coping with their mutual loss—a loss that brings them together (at least in the loose sense of the term). But soon,...
- 5/5/2023
- by Sourima Chakraborty
- Film Fugitives
Christophe Honoré's Winter Boy is now showing exclusively on Mubi starting April 28, 2023, in many countries in the series Luminaries.When Antoine Doinel first dons his checkered jacket and roams the streets of Paris in François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959), the city air is so cold that his breath clouds the frame. Truffaut’s wintry film is a tale of isolation and frustration in the life of the young Doinel, a misbehaving schoolboy bored by la dictée and the stifling teachings of his professor. Out in the frostbitten night, he sleeps in a printing press and steals a typewriter, evoking his search for his own liberation and words to live by. To everyone else, he appears a troubled youth in need of institutionalization. To Truffaut, he is his younger self looking for his identity and the means to express it, a memory committed to film. When a filmmaker sets...
- 5/2/2023
- MUBI
A young boy comes of age after his father’s sudden death in Christophe Honoré’s “Winter Boy.” A bleak portrait of grief, the film may earn points for crafting an empathetic, subjective portrayal of one boy’s emotional spiral. Yet, the film also makes several odd formal and aesthetic choices that, ultimately, make Honoré’s film feel more hackneyed than resonant. The strangest of which is the decision to allow Lucas (Paul Kircher), an openly gay 17-year-old, to directly address the camera, explaining and contextualizing his feelings to an unseen audience.
Continue reading ‘Winter Boy’ Review: Christophe Honoré’s Latest With Juliette Binoche Is An Affecting & Occasionally Hackneyed Portrait Of Grief at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Winter Boy’ Review: Christophe Honoré’s Latest With Juliette Binoche Is An Affecting & Occasionally Hackneyed Portrait Of Grief at The Playlist.
- 4/29/2023
- by Christian Gallichio
- The Playlist
It’s a slow week for new releases, both in theaters and at home. “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” deserves to be an Oscar contender — let’s get Rachel McAdams‘ supporting-actress campaign started pronto — but you’ll have to leave the couch to see that one. Without venturing to the multiplex, you can catch two favorites from the Oscars’ most recent shortlists and two new movies with very different sensibilities.
This contender to watch this week: “Moonage Daydream”
“David Bowie: The Last Five Years,” released in 2017, focused on the final chapter in the glam rocker’s storied career. “Moonage Daydream” is about what came before. The film made last year’s Oscar shortlist but was left out when nominations were announced, surprising many who thought this kaleidoscopic profile would be a shoo-in for Best Documentary Feature. Brett Morgan, who also directed the stylish “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,...
This contender to watch this week: “Moonage Daydream”
“David Bowie: The Last Five Years,” released in 2017, focused on the final chapter in the glam rocker’s storied career. “Moonage Daydream” is about what came before. The film made last year’s Oscar shortlist but was left out when nominations were announced, surprising many who thought this kaleidoscopic profile would be a shoo-in for Best Documentary Feature. Brett Morgan, who also directed the stylish “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,...
- 4/29/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Hazy Shade of Winter: Honore Deals with a Death in the Family in Sincere Coming-of-Age
Christophe Honoré has built an intricate filmography on the backs of characters consumed with loss and exploring their identities for the past two decades, only occasionally breaking from familiar themes to explore the inherent decadence and taboo of classic literature (such as his adaptations of Georges Bataille or Ovid). His latest, Le Lycéen (Winter Boy), unites coming-of-age tropes paralleled with loss, guilt, and sexuality through a semi-autobiographical lens in his particular talents for loquacious wisdom punctuated by observational sensibilities defining complex human relationships.
Honoré hands relative newcomer Paul Kircher the reins for this quietly poignant narrative about not taking those we love for granted and the inherent power in re-defining ourselves after tragedy shatters the fragile reality of preconceived notions.…...
Christophe Honoré has built an intricate filmography on the backs of characters consumed with loss and exploring their identities for the past two decades, only occasionally breaking from familiar themes to explore the inherent decadence and taboo of classic literature (such as his adaptations of Georges Bataille or Ovid). His latest, Le Lycéen (Winter Boy), unites coming-of-age tropes paralleled with loss, guilt, and sexuality through a semi-autobiographical lens in his particular talents for loquacious wisdom punctuated by observational sensibilities defining complex human relationships.
Honoré hands relative newcomer Paul Kircher the reins for this quietly poignant narrative about not taking those we love for granted and the inherent power in re-defining ourselves after tragedy shatters the fragile reality of preconceived notions.…...
- 4/28/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Grief is by no means a universally relatable subject; we may all encounter it, but the manner in which we process it very rarely translates directly to somebody else’s personal experiences. This is something filmmaker Christophe Honoré has an innate awareness of, with his latest film Winter Boy attempting to address his own formative experience of grief without simply resorting to a semi-autobiographical work. So he doesn’t leave these still-raw emotions confined within a period setting, rendering that adolescent pain a distant memory. He’s attempting to address them via a contemporary coming-of-age tale––one that may share resemblances to his own youth but refuses to simply revisit it.
It’s an intriguing approach for the writer-director to take, and one that didn’t entirely work. Though many moments are keenly felt, especially whenever the sibling relationship takes center stage, there are just as many that lack an...
It’s an intriguing approach for the writer-director to take, and one that didn’t entirely work. Though many moments are keenly felt, especially whenever the sibling relationship takes center stage, there are just as many that lack an...
- 4/27/2023
- by Alistair Ryder
- The Film Stage
AIDS is ever present in Christophe Honoré’s 2018 film Sorry Angel. But rather than dictate the choices and emotions of the characters, the disease simply colors their experiences, serving as a filter through which they see the world. In Winter Boy, Honoré approaches grief in a similarly subtle, intriguingly indirect manner. Where many films show grief merely as a crippling hindrance, Winter Boy sees it as an emotional state that constantly rises and recedes, disrupting the flow and morphing the meaning of everyday experience.
Honoré himself plays a soon-to-be-deceased father, Claude, immediately alluding to the personal nature of the film, which is based on his experiences after losing his own father. Winter Boy’s main focus, though, is Claude’s 17-year-old son, Lucas (Paul Kircher), who’s the same age that Honoré was when his father died, and who faces the aftermath of this loss with his mother, Isabelle (Juliette Binoche), and older brother,...
Honoré himself plays a soon-to-be-deceased father, Claude, immediately alluding to the personal nature of the film, which is based on his experiences after losing his own father. Winter Boy’s main focus, though, is Claude’s 17-year-old son, Lucas (Paul Kircher), who’s the same age that Honoré was when his father died, and who faces the aftermath of this loss with his mother, Isabelle (Juliette Binoche), and older brother,...
- 4/24/2023
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
Christophe Honoré selected Catherine Breillat’s 36 Fillette: “Her work is very important for French cinema.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Jacques Demy’s Lola (starring Anouk Aimée with Marc Michel), Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas, Zhangke Jia and composer Yoshihiro Hanno, Yves Robert’s La Guerre des Boutons, Alain Resnais’ Providence and L'Année Dernière à Marienbad, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, Sophie's Misfortunes, and Catherine Breillat’s 36 Fillette all came up in our discussion.
Christophe Honoré with Anne-Katrin Titze on why Alain Resnais is a king: “I’m interested in narrative play and people who have a ludic relationship to storytelling.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Christophe Honoré was in New York to present Winter Boy, starring Paul Kircher, Vincent Lacoste, Juliette Binoche, and Erwan Kepoa Falé, shot by Rémy Chevrin (Guermantes, [film]On...
Jacques Demy’s Lola (starring Anouk Aimée with Marc Michel), Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas, Zhangke Jia and composer Yoshihiro Hanno, Yves Robert’s La Guerre des Boutons, Alain Resnais’ Providence and L'Année Dernière à Marienbad, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, Sophie's Misfortunes, and Catherine Breillat’s 36 Fillette all came up in our discussion.
Christophe Honoré with Anne-Katrin Titze on why Alain Resnais is a king: “I’m interested in narrative play and people who have a ludic relationship to storytelling.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Christophe Honoré was in New York to present Winter Boy, starring Paul Kircher, Vincent Lacoste, Juliette Binoche, and Erwan Kepoa Falé, shot by Rémy Chevrin (Guermantes, [film]On...
- 3/13/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The 46th César Awards, France’s top film honors, have been handed out in Paris, with Dominik Moll’s crime thriller The Night of the 12th winning the best picture trophy.
Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms coming into the awards show, just behind Louis Garrel’s The Innocent, which picked up 11 nominations. Moll also won for best director, and Bouli Lanners earned the best supporting actor trophy for his performance in The Night of the 12th.
Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, was up for 9 Césars, as was Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family...
Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms coming into the awards show, just behind Louis Garrel’s The Innocent, which picked up 11 nominations. Moll also won for best director, and Bouli Lanners earned the best supporting actor trophy for his performance in The Night of the 12th.
Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, was up for 9 Césars, as was Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family...
- 2/24/2023
- by Scott Roxborough and Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 30 talents are in the running for the most promising actor and actress awards at the 2023 Cesar awards.
Les Révélations 2023, par Audrey Diwan (Sous-titre Anglais) from Académie des César on Vimeo.
France’s Cesar Academy has joined forces with Happening director Audrey Diwan for a short film honouring the 30 ‘Revelations’, the emerging French talents in the running for the most promising actor and actress awards at this year’s Cesar film awards.
Diwan presented the four-minute short film she wrote and directed at a dinner in Paris on January 16 attended by the Revelations, each of whom chose a mentor to accompany them.
Les Révélations 2023, par Audrey Diwan (Sous-titre Anglais) from Académie des César on Vimeo.
France’s Cesar Academy has joined forces with Happening director Audrey Diwan for a short film honouring the 30 ‘Revelations’, the emerging French talents in the running for the most promising actor and actress awards at this year’s Cesar film awards.
Diwan presented the four-minute short film she wrote and directed at a dinner in Paris on January 16 attended by the Revelations, each of whom chose a mentor to accompany them.
- 1/18/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
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