Yvan Attal plays the bad role in a thriller about cowardice and betrayal

For the first time, Yvan Attal tries his hand at a genre film with a tense thriller in which he takes on the role of the villain.

With his eighth film, Yvan depicts a friendship between two men, shattered by the adultery of one, and the tragedies that ensue. The film hits theaters on January 24, 2024.

After a violent burglary perpetrated by a patient of his psychologist wife Juliette (Marie-Josée Croze), Mathieu (Yvan Attal) decides to start everything from scratch in the South where Vincent, his best friend, has settled. Mathieu feels guilty for his cowardice and constantly repeats that he owes everything to Vincent (Guillaume Canet).

Debt

It was in fact Vincent who saved them the evening of the burglary, he who found them their new home, he who suggested that Mathieu become his partner in his town planning firm. The two couples, Mathieu and Juliette and Vincent and Delphine (Maïwenn), share everything, until the day Mathieu discovers that Vincent is cheating on his wife Delphine with Elsa, found dead at home some time later in her apartment… The beautiful friendly harmony will she resist this tragedy?

On the basis of a very free adaptation of Ball Trap by Eric Assous, Yvan Attal tries his hand at a genre film, with a thriller which features two men, two very close friends and yet so different: one, Vincent, rather a go-getter, seducer, not afraid of nothing, on the other Mathieu, a good man in all respects, upright in business, faithful in love, but afraid of everything.

The two friends and their wives have turned the page on the first tragedy, and are apparently living a light life, with rediscovered serenity. But who is Mathieu really? How will he react in exceptional circumstances and a new tragedy will arise? Who is he to judge his friend? What is he hiding behind his Mr. Perfect persona? How does he deal with feeling responsible for everything?

The codes of the thriller

Yvan Attal explores his work on friendship, couples, fidelity, adultery, lies, jealousy… Subjects that he has already treated in his previous films in a comic register. Here, we are very clearly in the drama, the director doing his best to stage all the ingredients of the genre: a tension established from the first images, which he maintains until the denouement, twists and turns, very tight shots on tormented faces, intense, omnipresent music, a voice-over, ambiguous characters, filmed in the very cinematic settings of the Côte d’Azur, harsh lights, steep coastal roads, sumptuous villas, yachts…

Told backwards, the story little by little reveals the behind the scenes, and the truth of the characters, less glamorous, less light, less simple than appearances would suggest, whether it is the couple Vincent and Delphine than that formed by Mathieu and Juliette.

Despite the commitment of the actors, all very intense, it is difficult to be convinced by this marital and friendly drama, with its somewhat forced production. The omnipresent voice-over and superfluous visual effects weigh down a scenario that is nevertheless full of promise, which subtly raises the question of betrayal and cowardice of men, in a story which ultimately turns out to be in no way the fruit of a simple throw of the dice, but rather the consequence of the actions of each person…

The sheet :

Gender : Thriller, Drama
Director: Yvan Attal
Actors: Guillaume Canet, Marie-Josée Croze, Yvan Attal
Country : France
Duration : 1h25
Exit : 01/24/2024
Distributer : SND

Synopsis : Mathieu owes everything to his friend Vincent: his house, his job, and even for saving his life ten years ago. They form, with their companions, an inseparable quartet, and live a cloudless life on the Côte d’Azur. But Mathieu’s loyalty is tested when he discovers that Vincent is cheating on his wife. When Vincent’s mistress is found dead, suspicion settles in the hearts of both couples, accompanied by its procession of cowardice, lies, and guilt…