Léa Seydoux delivers a wrenching performance as a musician whose marriage implodes under the most terrible of circumstances in this bleak-but-brilliant drama. She plays Lucy, a French concert pianist who moves to the German countryside with husband Philip (Laurence Rupp), and their son Johnny (Malo Blanchet).
While Philip has been suffering from panic attacks in the city, the early scenes, tenderly evoked by Seydoux and Rupp, show an idyllic family existence, one that is soon to be shattered.
With a knock at the door, the Munich child sex crimes unit arrests Philip. On his computer are images of child pornography, which he initially suggests is research for a documentary. Later he switches stories, claiming he was selling the images for money, under the username ‘Gentle Monster’. Initially, Lucy refuses to believe that he could be capable of such actions – a state of denial that is as much about ensuring the status quo of her own existence. But as the lies stack up, Lucy is left bewildered, unsure of the man she loves.
Her mother Eloise (Catherine Deneuve) tries to help, but Lucy is increasingly locked in a spiral of despair as her perfect life unravels – not least when she begins to imagine that Philip may have abused their son.
A subplot – slightly less successfully – offers a parallel track with young investigating office Else Kühn (Jella Haase) and the sexual misconduct of her ageing father, who has been groping his live-in carer, Natalia (Patrycja Ziółkowska). She, too, makes excuses for the actions of someone close to her.
Austrian writer-director Marie Kreutzer, who previously brought us the 2022 BAFTA-nominated period drams Corsage, no doubt finds personal catharsis in Gentle Monster. As many will recall, her Corsage star Florian Teichtmeister pleaded guilty and received a two-year suspended prison sentence for possessing and altering images involving the sexual abuse of children in 2023. While Gentle Monster is far removed from Teichtmeister's story, the sense of confusion and anger she must’ve felt burns brightly here.
Driven by its formidable lead actress, the film is at its strongest when it stays with Seydoux’s soul-ripping turn. Famed for playing the love of 007’s life in the Daniel Craig-era James Bond movies, Seydoux offers up one of the most powerful portrayals she’s given since her turn in the Cannes-winning Blue Is the Warmest Colour. Just the shots of her at the piano, hammering at the keys as if to crush all the pain she’s feeling, are enough to startle.
The music comes arranged by Camille, the French singer-songwriter who previously saw her song She Was featured in Corsage and later went on to co-write the songs for Jacques Audiard’s musical Emilia Pérez. Here, she finds a perfect, unique style for Lucy, beginning with a reinterpretation of Charles & Eddie’s Would I Lie to You? in the opening scene – a title that, of course, carries increasing significance as the story unfolds.
View Green Video on the source websiteFeaturing low-key but spot-on production design from Myrna Wolf, who conjures up a living space for the family that feels as un-put-together as they are, Kreutzer has an eye for telling images – notably the use of the boy’s trampoline in the family garden that bookends the movie. Credit too Laurence Rupp, Seydoux’s co-star, for playing a difficult role with total commitment – the guilty-as-charged everyman who is hiding a terrible secret.
Arguably, the subplot featuring Officer Kühn and her father adds little to the story, beyond showing us that monsters hide in plain sight. But with Seydoux on ragingly good form – expect a nomination for her at this year’s European Film Awards – Gentle Monster is still a powerful and profound work, one that will shake you to your core.
Gentle Monster is released in select cinemas from Friday October 30 and is streaming on Netflix from Wednesday 18 November.
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