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The film in theaters: The Story of Souleymane by Boris Lojkine
Forty-eight hours in the life of an undocumented Guinean before he knows whether or not he will be authorized to stay on French soil. Brilliantly transcending his subject which he masters like the back of his hand, Boris Lojkine creates a breathtaking thriller in the course of a race against time without downtime, embracing the permanent tension that this man must face. And it reveals a striking actor, Abou Sangaré (award-winning in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes) who finds himself, in “real” life, in the same situation as the character he plays.
What's new at the cinema this week
The series: A devoted friend
Freely adapted from the novel by Alexandre Kauffmann, The Mythomaniac of the Bataclanthe mini-series A devoted friend puts Laure Calamy (amazing) in the shoes of “Chris”, a pathological liar who invents a friend who was seriously injured during the attacks of November 13 to join a victims' association. A dizzying psychological thriller where Just Philippot, director of The Cloud And Acidimposes its paw on a playing field where it was not expected.
Watch A Devoted Friend on Max (one episode per week, four episodes total)
The film on VOD: Bad Boys: Ride or Die by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Redneck jokes, shootouts, chases… all the specifications of the Bad Boys is there, but devoid of the madness of Michael Bay (an unforgivable crime according to the fanbase). Your tolerance for this may vary, but it must be recognized that unlike Bad Boys 3 this one is much more invested and funny. In any case, we had a great time in the theaters. There's a chance it'll be the same on VOD, right?
Watch Bad Boys: Ride or Die on VOD on Première Max
The classic: Very tired by Michel Blanc
With this film, he wanted “play a prank, find a new style of comedy, play with reality in a murkier way.“Mission succeeded: two Michel Blancs for the price of one, fine dialogues, crazy cameos, Carole Bouquet who is having fun like never before playing with her star image… 30 years after its success in theaters, this film meta remains incredibly modern, original, and impactful The intro to Cannes is crazy to watch again post-#MeToo, the exchange with Philippe Noiret on the Champs-Elysées, about the disappearance of French cinema, too. .
Watch Grosse fatigue streaming for free on France.TV
The film in streaming: Saint Omer by Alice Diop
Director acclaimed for her documentaries ((The Death of Danton, Towards tenderness, We…), Alice Diop signs an impressive first work of fiction with this trial film, inspired by a true story, about an infanticide mother. Word is king in Saint Omerand the staging forces us to confront these words, these faces, while we try to understand this inexplicable gesture. Diop also questions himself, through the character of the novelist who follows the debates, disturbed like the spectator by this terrible drama. A film, awarded at Venice and the Césars, from which we do not emerge unscathed.
Watch Saint Omer streaming for free on Arte.TV
The film on TV: Kompromat by Jérôme Salle
We will soon find Gilles Lellouche director in Phew Love. He plays here, for the director of The Odysseya French official imprisoned in Russia for child molestation in a scenario inspired by the Barbeau affair. He is the victim of a “kompromat”, a compromising file brought against him by the authorities. The result? A gripping but restrained thriller, with minimalist staging to focus on the emotions of the protagonist, perfectly embodied by Lellouche.
Watch Kompromat Sunday at 9:10 p.m. on France 2
The nugget: This old dream that moves by Alain Guiraudie
The poetic title of this medium-length film would almost be enough for you to connect to the MK2 platform. Here, the dream is at the same time a carrier of struggle (that of the working class which serves as an anchor for the story), of desires (carnal and sentimental) and of the future (to move is to move forward). When this film arrives at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001, Alain Guiraudie, a filmmaker well anchored in his Aveyron region, is on the radar of cinephiles thanks to his previous short films. There is a fierce desire to make poetic and iconoclastic cinema far from the ambient Parisianism. On the Croisette Godard dubs Guiraudie by asserting that This old dream that moves East “the best film of the Cannes Film Festival. This is what poses a filmmaker! It is about a young worker attracted by his boss who is unfortunately not loved in return. There is also the factory, the sun, the wild grasses… In short, a whole world that opens up to us. Alain Guiraudie has since traced his path without denying any of his ideals, proof with his magnificent latest born, Mercyin theaters this week.
Watch This Old Dream That Moves free streaming on MK2 Curiosity
The video game: Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
Heir to Budokai Tenkaichi which made the heyday of the PS2 and the Wii, this new fighting game Dragon Ball promises lively evenings in front of the console. Very austere in the staging of its story mode, Sparking! Zero largely makes up for it thanks to the flamboyant staging of the fights and its gameplay is much deeper than it seems. A title not without its flaws (camera management, random) but generous (182 playable characters, who could say better?) and spectacular.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.