The Five Devils

According to Wikipedia, part of the filming took place in Isère (France), in the commune Le Bourg-d'Oisans and at Lac Bleu, as well as in Île-de-France. I couldn´t figure out why this movie is called The Five Devils. I read somewhere else that the name of the film relates to the five mountains nearby the place the action takes place. I do not think the landscape plays an important role in the film and, definitely has nothing to do with the story being told. Perhaps a more suitable title would be The Scent of Things, considering 'scent' is a strong issue throughout the whole film, which attracts our attention but does not contribute much for clarifying the development of the plot per se. If I have not read a short description given in Mubi about the story, the whole movie would have been even more confusing to me. Vicky´s father, Jimmy, had not seen his sister Julia for 10 years. From what I remember, Vicky and Julia had not met before, up to the day Julia arrives at the family (Joanne, Jimmy and Vicky) house and the story starts.

As a premise, it has a mix of elements that called my attention. The trailer shows interesting imagery and characters and the movie lives up to it.

Through the first half I was very curious about what the characters do and how events would develop.

There acting performances are solid throughout, and even if I heard some mixed opinions about the story being all over the place, too much going on and confusing, for me the elements were always clear and the story is quite simple to understand.

There's a little twist at the end that might leave you thinking to figure out what it means, but even if you don't, the story makes perfect sense and it even surprised me with its tone.

The cinematography is ok, nothing special, but the story is interesting and well paced so it kept me entertained from beginning to end.

This incredible french drama delves deep into a genre breaking experience in very interesting ways.

The actors and the script is incredible, and so is the cinematography, cutting and. It is simply a very beautifully and uniquely put together piece.

Overall, an incredible and acclaimed film that is very much recommended for any lover of film.

The effects, and the overall idea and execution works very fluidly. The end result is a very unique piece that stays with you for a long time.

Overall, yet another testament to the greatness of french cinema, and how you can bend genres and conventions in very appreciated and interesting ways.

The Five Devils is a very nice looking film. It is full of artsy compositions and colorful scenery. It is well performed; the actors are very naturalistic, and no one is over the top or feels unrealistic. The story, on the other hand, is not for everyone. It follows a family at a crossroads when someone from their past returns to town. How each character handles this reappearance makes up most of the runtime. There is a fantastical element, as one character is able to enter moments from the past, but almost everything else is handled very realistically. I was very neutral towards this movie. I was definitely wanting to see where it went, but once it was finished, I was ready to move on. I didn't feel compelled to reflect on what I had seen. I was hoping for more tension or emotion of some sort, but it was all pretty subdued. My opinion is that this one is skippable.

... following the early rave reviews of this film, and the fact that Adele is always interesting.

However, I found a couple of the characters very thin (the husband in particular) and the flashbacks became a bit much for me.

At one level, as with Titane, this is quite an interesting set-up of a highly dysfunctional family, but I just couldn't suspend disbelief enough for some of the action and, in particular, the outcome (as far as I could make it out).

Meanwhile, on the basis of this, I'm sure however that Sally Drame will go on to do some very interesting work - she's a compelling presence here.

Worth a look.