“Stars at noon”, Claire Denis’ black hole in competition

The presence of Claire Denis for the first time in competition at Cannes did not come under the best auspices. stars at noon disconcerted the festival-goers, as this demanding and talented filmmaker went in all directions with this disjointed and poorly acted film (flat for Margaret Qualley). To believe that she had not completed her editing to be on time on the Croisette.

Trish, an American journalist stranded without papers in Nicaragua in the middle of the election, meets Daniel, an Englishman who could help her out of this bad situation. She falls from Charybdis and Scylla with this seductive spy wanted by the CIA, who will take her through all the dangers.

Claire Denis in a spy movie? Unlikely, but why not? The genre offers multiple possibilities with the most twisted plots, where we like to get lost in labyrinths which are not without displeasing the filmmaker. But it hits rock bottom here by not mastering any of its components.

How did Claire Denis get involved in this mess? So much the dramaturgy is absent, that one would believe oneself in a series Z which would have forgotten to be short, the film lengthening on 2:17 of an ordeal without end.

Very hard for this great author who has given us some very fine films, and to whom Cannes recognition offers the worst of showcases. No comment.

Gender : Spying
Director: Claire Dennis
Actors: Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Danny Ramirez, Benny Safdie
Country : Canada / Greece / France / United Kingdom
Duration : 2h17
Exit : Shortly
Distributer : Ad Vitam

Summary: A young American journalist in distress, stranded without a passport in today’s Nicaragua during the election period, meets an English traveler in a hotel bar. He seems to her to be the perfect man to help her flee the country. She realizes too late that, on the contrary, she is entering a murkier, more dangerous world by his side.