Cannes film festival: There’s nothing like a home-invasion suspense thriller to provide a change of pace at Cannes, and Léa Mysius’s adaptation of Laurent Mauvignier’s bestseller Histoires de la Nuit isn’t at all bad - although it runs out of narrative steam in the third act, and one particular shock-twist appears to unshock and untwist itself. Still, it delivers some sinister rural strangeness in the France profonde countryside, gonzo shootouts, and a ripe turn from Benoît Magimel, who with every film seems to morph further into a cross between Gérard Depardieu and Christopher Walken.
In a very remote bucolic village, Thomas (Bastien Bouillon) is a hardworking dairy farmer who took over the family smallholding after his father killed himself. After a whirlwind romance, he married Nora (Hafsia Herzi), a rather glamorous city-slicker who just showed up in the neighbourhood; they have a daughter, Ida, who has recently irritated Nora by posting a wacky video of the three of them doing a goofy “family dance” that went viral. The family gets on well with an elegant artist next door, played by Monica Bellucci on stately form. Thomas has money worries - we see him on the phone trying to borrow €300 to pay for Nora’s approaching 40th birthday party. On the day itself, three sinister tough guys show up (Magimel, Paul Hamy, Alane Delhaye). We might think we know who they’ve come to see and why - but things are a little more complicated than that.