Un vizio di famiglia

The Origin of Evil is no such thing, it's a ridiculous title for such a sedate and slow-paced thriller. In fact, L'origine du mal is about a half an hour too long.

Stephane, a factory worker, seeks out the wealthy father who abandoned her mother long ago so that she can get to know him in his old age. Serge is not a good man, he admits to caring about nothing but work and money and to having "a few" women. His wife and daughter, George, can't stand him and seem determined to make his life a living hell - the wife by power shopping constantly for things she does not need (or really even want) to waste his millions, and the daughter has taken control of all of his existing businesses, to his chagrin. Stephane is immediately regarded with suspicion and anger by her spoiled half-sister George but insists on ingratiating herself into her father and step-mother's lives.

Stephane is hiding an awful lot, including a lesbian partner who is confined to jail for a crime she claims she didn't commit. I know all of this sounds really interesting and twisty, and the cinematography is nice, but The Origin of Evil is all-too-common. It's very average as a French thriller, I guess you could say it was done in the classic style of French cinema. Maybe I'm too used to watching Italian Giallos and K-Thrillers but this movie practically put me to sleep. I managed to take a break then stay with it until the end, which was relatively predictable at that point.

The one good thing I can say about this film is that because it is so serious, it's difficult not to empathize with Stephane, no matter how bad of a person she is. I'm often able to distance myself from nasty characters emotionally, but Stephane is played with a complexity that hints at her severe mental instability and emotional scars which encourages a sense of sympathy for her until the bitter end.

Greetings again from the darkness. Dysfunctional families are common fodder in films for the simple reason that most of us can relate ... or at least walk away being grateful that ours isn't THAT bad. I do trust (and hope) that your family bears little resemblance to the Dumontet clan at the center of this film from writer-director Sebastien Marnier and co-writer Fanny Burdino. This is a story filled with deceit and greed and conniving folks who make any of the reality TV housewives seem like Mother Teresa.

This is a tricky film to discuss while attempting to not spoil anything, so understand some of this is vague by design. Laure Calamy takes the lead as a line worker at an anchovy packaging plant. Her lesbian lover (Suzanne Clement) is incarcerated, and the money problems are piling up. She reaches out to the Dumontets to see if patriarch Serge (Jacques Weber) will accept his long-lost daughter, Stefane, back into the family. Jacques agrees, and soon she is on a boat to visit the ultra-rich Serge, who lives in a mansion on an island in the south of France.

As it turns out, Serge is the least of her worries. His wife Louise (Dominique Blanc) is an eccentric and colorful shopaholic or spendaholic who takes each day as a challenge to buy more items online and through TV shows. Daughter George (Doria Tillier) is a taskmaster who runs the family business and has no time for the newly-discovered sister. There is also George's teenage daughter (Celeste Brunnquell) who mostly broods and looks forward to the day she can escape. Lastly, we have Agnes (Veronique Ruggia), the longtime housekeeper who is also not in favor of adding one more plate to the dinner table.

Director Marnier presents us a cast of nutjob characters, each who carries a secret and is working part of a self-serving scheme. Back-stabbing seems to be a shared family trait, and at times (2 times precisely) it spirals into murder. An extensive use of split screen allows Marnier to convey the duplicitous and conniving happenings. The accompanying music often makes use of a pipe organ - a sound rarely heard in movies that aren't 1940's horror films. Yes, the film is heavy on camp, but it's also heavy on heavy, making the comedic moments even more effective.

Dominique Blanc is wonderful in her role, yet it's Laure Calamy whose performance truly stands out and makes the story work. The set decoration is unlike anything we've seen before (taxidermy and VHS tapes are front and center), and the film acts as yet another skewering of the rich (at least it's not rich Americans this time). Fans of Claude Chabrol will appreciate the homage, and most of us cringe at the unstable personalities in this dysfunctional family and its affiliates. It's unclear how best to label this - comedy, mystery, suspense - but regardless of the label, there is a bit of fun in watching the entitled get a taste of comeuppance.

Opens in select theaters and On Demand beginning September 22, 2023.

I saw THE ORIGIN OF EVIL at an AMC Theatre in Skokie, IL after the director Sebastien Marnier had noted that his film was released in over 200 theatres in the United States.

I had already watched Marnier's other two movies IRREPROCHABLE and SCHOOL'S OUT, and they are both remarkably self-assured and intelligent for a newer filmmaker; I was thrilled that his third movie is drawing attention.

THE ORIGIN OF EVIL is earmarked by the same wit that he had already displayed, but Marnier has honed his craft even more here. Casting seems to be a no-brainer, and everyone here especially Laura Calamy, who is something of a French it-girl, is a perfect fit.

American directors are simply less smart or do not care about the details in which Marnier swims. See this movie and clear your head of some of the Hollywood dreck.

I'm beginning to think that Laure Calamy doesn't make rotten films. She's really quite effective in this story of greed and manipulation as "Nathalie" or is that "Stéphane"?. Hmmm! Well initially, she's incarcerated with her lover (Suzanne Clément) but next thing she's writing to her wealthy but estranged father (Jacques Weber). A reconciliation takes place and she is quickly whisked off to his opulent villa where she is introduced to his rather eccentric family. There's the profligate wife "Louise" (Dominique Blanc) who spends fifteen hundred Euros a day shopping on the internet; very sceptical and ambitious daughter "George" (Doria Tillier) and their slightly creepy maid "Agnès" (Véronique Saura). When the family discover that their new arrival has no ID, they begin to suspect she's not quite all she claims. He, on the other hand, is facing court proceedings to cuckold him and give control of his money to his grasping family. He hopes that his new daughter can testify to their love and strong relationship and convince the judge he's not lost the plot. What happens now allows Calamy to get her character under your fingernails. We know what's actually going on from fairly early on, so the plot plays second fiddle to the acting and those characterisations here are engaging. Plaudits also must go to Blanc who pulls off the slightly deranged wife with aplomb. The denouement has a delicious little twist to it that, though probably a bit unrealistic, does add that je ne sais quoi to the proceedings. It's a little too long and maybe takes fifteen minutes more than we need to set the scene and get going; but once we are up and running it's well worth a gander.

A woman tearing through the great distance between two distinctive worlds while doing all and anything to survive. A great story on the cruel ways of man. Story is predictable from the end of it's first quarter but it's the fateful twists and turns that's evermore interestingly keep the story alive. Great cinematography that brings the feminine theme very well. Visuals are excellent in portraying the intended emotions and setting the tone of each scene through visuals. Unique music that works well with the movie. There's a lot of good symbolisms such as how Serge name girls to understand where the origin of everything is. It's both funny and sad how perpetrator gets found and how Stephane's fate is decided. A great story that anyone would enjoy.