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The Five Devils
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Wikipedia article
'The Five Devils' is a 2022 French drama fantasy film directed by La Mysius, who wrote the screenplay with Paul Guilhaume. The film stars Adle Exarchopoulos and Sally Dram. It screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2022.
Premise
Vicky (Dram) has a magical gift: she can smell and reproduce any scent of her choosing. She collects these in carefully labelled jars. The solitary child has a very strong bond with her mother Joanne (Exarchopoulos), whose scent she also secretly captures. When her father's sister Julia (Emati) appears into their life, Vicky also begins to reproduce her scent. Julia has recently been released from prison, and Vicky is transported into dark and magical memories which lead her to discover the secrets of her village, her family and her own existence.
Cast
* Adle Exarchopoulos as Joanne
* Sally Dram as Vicky
* Swala Emati as Julia
* Moustapha Mbengue as Jimmy
* Daphn Patakia as Nadine
* Patrick Bouchitey as Jean-Yvon
* Noe Abita
Production
'The Five Devils' is La Mysius's second feature film as director, following 'Ava' in 2017. Mysius co-wrote the film's screenplay with its cinematographer Paul Guilhaume.
The film was produced by Fanny Yvonnet for Trois Brigands Productions and by Jean-Louis Livi for F comme Film, both of whom previously produced 'Ava'. 'The Five Devils' benefited from production support from Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes Cinma (and support from the Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes region itself), pre-sales from Canal+ and Cin+, and support from the le-de-France region.
Filming was set to begin in March 2020, but was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed in March 2021 and lasted seven weeks. Filming took place in Isre between 124 March 2021, in the commune Le Bourg-d'Oisans and at Lac Bleu. Shooting continued in the le-de-France region, including the Michel-Beaufort swimming pool in Bondy on 31 March and 1 April 2021. Filming wrapped in Paris on 16 April 2021.
Release
'The Five Devils' was selected to be screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It had its world premiere at Cannes on 23 May 2022. It was theatrially released in France on 31 August 2022. French distribution is handled by Le Pacte and international sales are handled by Wild Bunch. In a deal negotiated by Wild Bunch, Mubi acquired 'The Five Devils' for North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, India and Turkey. Mubi is planning a theatrical release in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland, followed by an exclusive release on its streaming platform.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10. According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 65 out of 100 based on 4 critics, the film received "generally favorable reviews".
Jordan Mintzer of 'The Hollywood Reporter' assessed the film as having too many elements, criticizing screenwriters Mysius and Guilhaume for infusing an "otherwise compelling and intimate tragedy with elements of witchcraft, the supernatural and time travel that feel like they belong in another film whether it's by Shyamalan or Robert Eggers, or something from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rather than enhancing the intrigue, the genre components wind up diluting it, and when the two sides of the movie ultimately come together, the impact feels blunted."
References
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