News

Wake Up is the latest from Quebec filmmaking trio Rkss (or Roadkill Superstar), François Simard, his wife Anouk Whissel and her brother Yoann-Karl Whissel, adapting a script by Italian screenwriter Alberto Marini (The Communion Girl). Unlike their comedic gorefests Turbo Kid and newly released We Are Zombies, Wake Up has a darker tone, closer to that of Summer of ‘84. It fits neatly within the slasher subgenre, though instead of the middle of the woods, the action takes place in a furniture superstore that serves as a stand-in for Ikea.

Last month, environmental activists were sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to block traffic on a highway in the UK. The group known as Just Stop Oil has been responsible for a wave of vandalism, most notably of Stonehenge and of priceless paintings, as a means of protesting climate change. Their actions have done little to help them gain public sympathy,...

For years now, Veep has been one of the absolute funniest shows on television. That’s due, in no small part, to the efforts of a cast that includes Reid Scott and Matt Walsh. They’re both hilarious actors, blessed with the capability to embarrass themselves in the most humorous of ways. So, pairing them up for a buddy comedy of sorts would be solid gold, right? Well, not so fast. Opening this week, Under the Eiffel Tower has moments that shine between the two, but as it gets more serious, it shows how poorly cast one of the two are. It all ends up being a little too messy and a little too low key to fully work. We meet Stuart (Walsh) while he is in the midst of a mid life crisis. Recently unemployed, the bourbon salesman is getting drunk on his own product when best friend Frank...

While at Series Mania Festival to present his mini-series “Thanksgiving” in competition, Nicolas Saada sat with Variety to discuss the spy drama which centers on the marriage between a Frenchman and American woman who are keeping secrets from each other.

Written by Saada and Anne-Louise Trividic, “Thanksgiving” was produced by Claude Chelli at Capa Drama, the thriving French banner behind “Versailles” and “Braquo,” for Franco-German network Arte. Newen Distribution is handling international sales on the series.

A former high-profile film critic, Saada previously wrote Frederic Jardin’s “Nuit Blanche,” which was remade into “Sleepless” with Jamie Foxx; and directed two films, “Spy(ies),” a London-set thriller with Guillaume Canet, and most recently “Taj Mahal,” a psychological thriller with Stacy Martin (“Nymphomaniac”) set against the backdrop of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack.

What’s the genesis of “Thanksgiving”?

It was Claude Chelli [the boss of Capa Drama] who approached me. He wanted to work with me and...

There are few filmmakers working this very day that are more exciting than Bertrand Bonello. A career spanning now over 20 years, Bonello has become synonymous with surreal, painterly films, films that are as expertly crafted and framed as they are intellectually stimulating. Be it the superb Jean Pierre-Leaud-led The Pornographer or the baroque House Of Tolerance, Bonello is a captivating voice in world cinema.

His latest marks no change in that.

Nocturama tells the story of a group of youths as they make their way through the streets of Paris. As the opening sequences begin to unfold, we the viewer become privy to the bombing plot that they are attempting to hatch. These almost Bressonian moments of procedure and impending dread are marked by the finalization of their bombing, and ultimately the fleeing of these young men and women into a nearby shopping mall. Surrounded by the consumerist culture they so viscerally loathe,...

At the bar with Nocturama director Bertrand Bonello Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

After being seated next to Django director Étienne Comar and Reda Kateb (who portrays Django Reinhardt) at the uniFrance Locanda Verde lunch, I had a conversation with Bertrand Bonello on his latest film. Nocturama, shot by cinematographer Léo Hinstin, edited by Fabrice Rouaud, costumes by Sonia Philouze with music by Bonello. It has an ensemble cast that includes Finnegan Oldfield, Vincent Rottiers, Hamza Meziani, Manal Issa, Martin Petit-Guyot, Jamil McCraven, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laure Valentinelli, Ilias Le Doré, Robin Goldbronn, Luis Rego, Hermine Karagheuz, and Adèle Haenel.

Finnegan Oldfield as David in Nocturama Photo: Carole Bethuel

When I spoke last year with Thomas Bidegain on Les Cowboys about actor Finnegan Oldfield, who stars in both his and Bertrand's film, he told me that Nocturama was being edited the day of the Bataclan attack in Paris.

Nocturama, a highlight of...

If you did a shot every time the camera held still on an image for more than a few seconds in the new cheapjack suspense film “As Above, So Below,” you'd never get drunk. Director John Erick Dowdle and cinematographer Léo Hinstin keep their handheld camera style shaky, rattling and rolling throughout, even though most of the movie is supposed to be footage shot by hapless documentary filmmaker Benji (Edwin Hodge), who is following dishy Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) around as she goes on a dizzy quest to find the mythical philosopher's stone, an alchemical substance that turns metal into gold.