Planet B: an ambitious women’s anticipation film [critique]

From Prisoner to Far Cry, Aude Léa Rapin embraces her influences and Souheila Yacoub impresses.

One night in 2039, in Grenoble, after a tough encounter with the police, Julia (Adèle Exarchopolous, perfect) disappears with her fellow activists before waking up in a mysterious place and quickly understands that the reality in which she comes to open her eyes is virtual, of which she will remain prisoner, unless she denounces her accomplices. At the same time, Nour (Souheila Yacoub, with a crazy presence), a migrant under threat of expulsion, struggles to renew her eye QR Code, which has become essential, and gets her hands on a new army technology that will link her destiny to that of Julia and her attempts to escape from this Planet B of which she is a prisoner.

Aude-Léa Rapin (Heroes never die), nourished by SF literature, anticipation cinema and video games, manages to mix their codes to offer a unique – and very dark – vision of the world. Prison abuses, inhumane treatment of immigrants, police violence, fear of global warming… We could fear an overdose, but the director always manages to keep the thread of her story. So, of course, once we understand the concept, the virtual universe is probably a bit too “smooth” and repetitive to be fully convincing.

But let's not shy away from our pleasure in the face of such a cinematic proposition: by taking inspiration from the sets recovered from Son of man by Cuaron, from the light of the Safdie brothers and with Bonello in charge of the disturbing soundtrack, the director, like them, signs modern films, anchored in their time.

By Aude Léa Rapin. With Adèle Exarchopoulos, Souheila Yacoub, India Hair… Duration 1h58. Released December 25, 2024