La Vénus électrique

Antoine is a painter. Since his wife Irène died he can produce nothing and has started drinking; he believes he had a hand in her death. Suzanne works the fairgrounds; she says she is a clairvoyant and knows herself that it is not true. Antoine goes to her to make contact with his wife. Armand, his dealer, is afraid the painter will fall apart entirely and puts a proposal to Suzanne: keep the pretence going and her debts will be paid. She accepts and the hypnosis sessions begin. They are improvised and go further each time. Pierre Salvadori directs. Pio Marmaï, Anaïs Demoustier, Gilles Lellouche and Vimala Pons are in the cast. Salvadori is among the directors in France who work comedy and feeling together, and his earlier films were built on deception as well. The matter the narrative builds is a lie that works; the act is false and its effect is real, and the film leaves that as a question. Suzanne does not want to harm the man she is deceiving and the narrative does not judge her as a swindler. The form proceeds in the classical comic shape: the lie set up, the consequences growing, and the fear of being found out. Grief sits underneath throughout and the humour does not lighten it. It dates from 2026 and belongs to mainstream French cinema. Who it is for: viewers who like French comedy and narratives built on grief. Who it is not for: the plot is familiar, the shifts in register uneven, and the ending is what you expect.