LES BARBARES (MEET THE BARBARIANS) (France 2024) ****
Directed by Julie Delpy
Actress Julie Delpy (star of films by Godard, Kieslowski and Linklater) directs her own film, proving herself totally apt and a force to be reckoned with. She centres her sights on comedy with a message with a film that matters that she delivers in style with lots of hilarity, drama and a bit of satire. The story is set in Paimpont, a small town in France, preparing to welcome a Ukrainian refugee family and is surprised when a Syrian family shows up instead. Every town has its patriots, loyalists and racists, all of whom show their influence on the Syrian family, but that is not perfect as well. Delpy shows the good and bad of both sides with a touching romance between the young Syrian teen in the family and a local French boy to bridge the gap of racism. It might be too obvious, but the ploy works. And the town actually exists. Paimpont sits nestled in Brittany, content with its centuries-old heritage, its crêpes (the Brittany people cook everything with lots of butter, which is also incorporated in the script), and its flattering self-image—a marvellous surprise from Delpy.
In LES BARBARES, director Delpy balances the comedy and drama of the film very well.The comedy and drama both derive from the cultural differences of France and Syria.Both are also accomplished in segments, well put together, as in the best one, where the two Syrian children go to the French school for their very first time.They meet the white kids, one of whom says: ‘Do not look them in he eye,' as all of them face downwards and the Syrian girl and her younger brother arrive. The drama is largely derived from the family searching and waiting for news of their missing brother, Farid.
I have seen the film twice, initially when it premiered at TIFF and again currently when it got a commercial release.The film was entirely enjoyable at TIFF, especially when watching a comedy for a change during a week when I watch 5 films a day.I did not find the film that funny the second time, though the film still managed to elicit quite a few laugh-out-loud laughs from me.
A few good jokes here, especially with the village receiving information that they are getting a Syrian instead of a Ukrainian family.“I already learn to make borscht,” says one. Ukrainians are high on the refugee list, and they ran out of Ukrainians.
And what does the Syrian family and the French village talk about?“Isn’t it not too cold here?”the Syrians are asked, who then say to each other: “All they do is ask about the weather.”
But the film’s best is the segment in which Mdm. Joelle’s class of students each talks about what racism is to them.‘Leading to suicide from non-confidence, fear of the unknown, hatred of people who are different, etc.’ are a few of the responses.
MEET THE BARBARES is a funny and entertaining French comedy, the best of what commercial French films have to offer, while delivering a powerful message about refugees and living together in harmony in a light and effective way.
LOST BULLET 3 (LAST BULLET (Bolle Perdue 3) (France 2025) *** Directed by Guillaume Pierret
LAST BULLET begins with a short recap of the films and incidents that lead to the final instalment of LAST BULLET or LOST BULLET 3.
The "Lost Bullet" franchise consists of three French action thriller films directed by Guillaume Pierret and starring Alban Lenoir. The first movie, "Lost Bullet," was released in 2020, followed by "Lost Bullet 2: Back for More" in 2022, and finally "Last Bullet" was released on May 7, 2025.
The breakdown of the franchise:
"Lost Bullet" (2020): A small-time delinquent, Lino is forced to become a police mechanic for a task force after his mentor is killed by corrupt cops, and he must defend his innocence. "Lost Bullet 2: Back for More" (2022): Lino, now cleared and working for a new narcotics unit, seeks revenge on the corrupt cops who killed his brother and mentor. "Last Bullet" (2025): The third and final installment, where Lino, having just left prison, continues his pursuit of vengeance against Areski, the person responsible for Charas' death.
The film can be loosely described as a French version of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS. The trouble is that American audiences have been flooded with these movies as well as a splurge of action films recently that include THE ACCOUNTANT 2, the new MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, SHADOW FORCE, and A WORKING MAN, just to mention a few.
In this final and third installment, Netflix continues to deliver all the explosions, gunplay, and car chases that any action fan could possibly want and expect.The film is a continuation, so it is best that one keeps up to date with the story.The “indestructible” car genius Lino returns to conclude his vendetta against the crooked cop who destroyed his life.
The film begins with Lino freshly released from prison and quickly gearing up to enact his vengeance and see justice prevail.It i the same oldster that quickly leads to tedium, no matter how hard the actors try. The action set pieces are top notch, especially the chases, which by now is expected to be the standard for action films.
LOST BULLET 3 (LAST BULLET (Bolle Perdue 3) opens for streaming this week on Netflix.
LES FEMMES EN OR (Two Women) (Canada 2025) *** Directed by Chloé Robichaud
Violette and Florence no longer understand what's happening to them. Respectively on maternity leave and off work, one is on edge, the other feels nothing. The neighbours are both consumed by a sense of failure: despite their careers and families, they're not happy. Florence's first infidelity will be a revelation. What if happiness meant rebelling against our rigid, performance-driven society? In a context where having fun is far down the list of priorities, sleeping with a delivery man might be downright revolutionary. For Violette and Florence, it will be the breath of fresh air they've been hoping for.
The film begins with Violette complaining to her husband that she hears the sound of a crow. She mimics the sound, which could also sound like a couple in the midst of their lovemaking. She is so obsessed with the sound that she confronts her neighbour, Florence, about it, which is, as the audience assumes, that they met.
The film about liberal women feels like this, which was very common in the 70s - films like AN UNMARRIED WOMAN, LA LUNA, and DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE. The film could have been two separate films as they deal with two women, but the two women interact from the very beginning, and even their male counterparts interact. If one could say that the film is set in the 70s, the answer is no, as there is a segment where Violette’s partner uses his cellular in the toilet.
The film is very much a female tale told by females with a large female perspective. But at least the males are not treated as idiots, and at times they are right in their arguments over the women, as in the one where Violette sells her husband’s fishing gear with his guitar following.
If there is a message delivered in the star, it is that women have to be sexually satisfied in order to be happy, especially in a relationship, regardless of whether the sex is between the partner or with someone else. There is a discussion that monogamy is designed by society to satisfy the needs of men, o ugly men will never have enough women and will create trouble otherwise. The two femmes of the story go to great lengths in order to find sex, be it hiring outside help like a partner or pest exterminators and then have sex after securing them. They also go to the bars, get drunk, dance and seduce the males at the establishment,
In the case of the two women, the partners appear satisfied with the arrangement, though unaware that their partners are having sex with others, and their relationship, but glad that all is going well.
The film is shot in Quebec, mainly in winter when there is heavy snow all around, the atmosphere adding to the coldness of the women’s situations.
The film begins to drag a bit towards the end, once all the characters have been introduced and their idiosyncrasies revealed. Still, this is a free-spirited flowing film including anything that can happen.
TWO WOMEN opens this week at the TIFF Lightbox with a May 27 post-screening Q&A with director Chloé Robichaud.
CAPSULE REVIEWS of Select Films will be posted once embargoes have lifted. Embargo dates listed.
This reviewer did not get the privilege of going to Cannes but thanks to the publicists at the PR Factory, and with them sending screeners, I am able to review their films on this site. These are smaller but by no means less important films, films that are screened at the other sections in Cannes, such as the Un Certain Regard and Quinzaine Sections. All embargoes are respected, and capsule reviews are only posted once the embargoes are lifted.
Capsule Reviews:
AMOUR APOCALYPSE (Peak Everything) (Canada 2025) ** Directed by Anne Emond
Director Anne Emond tackles male trauma with her forty-year-old protagonist suffering from insecurity and a need for acceptance. Adam is a kennel owner, Adam grappling with climate anxiety. Amid a natural disaster, he embarks on an adventurous, bilingual romantic journey to find her. Adam has issues that the story blames in his affection-avoidant father, and lets his young assistant take advantage of his good nature. To help combat his eco-anxiety, Adam orders a therapeutic solar lamp. Through the lamp's supplier's technical support line, he meets Tina, a radiant woman with a voice that soothes all of his worries. The film is a strange love story of sorts. Director Emond gets her character, Adam, to cry, mope, and come to terms with himself. Her female characters, those that Adam encounters, like Tina and his kennel helper, have stronger personalities. It is hard to identify with a protagonist with self-worth issues, but the film feels too like one with too much of a female slant.
DANDELION’S ODYSSEY (France/Belgium 2025) ***½
Directed by Momoko Seto
(Semaine de la Critique)
Following the footsteps of the Oscar-winning animated FLOW from Latvia, DANDELION’S ODYSSEY is a stunning animation with little plot, though penned by three writers, but is more than made up by the imaginative journey that defies time and space.Dendelion, Baraban, Léonto and Taraxa are four odd friends; four seeds used to belong to the same dandelion. Rescued from a nuclear explosion that destroyed the Earth, they find themselves hurled into the cosmos, travelling through planets and constellations. When they land on an unknown planet, they set off on an unforgettable adventure to find a new home and settle for good. through planets and constellations. When they land on an unknown planet, they set off on an unforgettable adventure to find a new home and settle for good.The story is told through sounds and music, with a little cuteness thrown in as the seeds with their tentacles often dance in the wind.This is director Momoko Seto’s first full-length animated feature after three shorts.
CARAVAN (KARAVAN) (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Italy 2025) Directed by Zuzana Kirchnerova
(Un Certain Regard)
A slow burn of drama takes place initially at a seaside holiday camping resort. The film is so-called CARAVAN as the rest of he drama takes place like a road movie in which the subjects drive around in the caravan.Overwhelmed by motherhood, Ester steals a caravan and flees to southern Italy with her son David, with Down Syndrome..She loves David as a mother should, but David becomes too much for her, scratching her when she tries to calm him down (David suffers from occasional violent fits) and also annoying the girls they are visiting with.As things start to spiral downwards, they meet a young drifter (a young free-spirited young lady) whose open heart transforms their makeshift family into something freer, lighter, and full of unexpected hope.
DEATH DOES NOT EXIST (LA MORT N’EXISTE PAS) (Canada/France 2025) *** Directed by Félix Dufour-Laperrière
A seriously contemplative animated feature debating hope against regret. After a failed armed attack on wealthy landowners, Hélène abandons her companions and flees into the forest. Manon, one of her friends and accomplices, returns to haunt her. Hélène has to revisit her convictions and choices in a valley where metamorphoses and great upheavals disrupt the natural order of things. If given a choice, which option should she revisit? Abandonment or not. She is confronted by Marc, who returns to her to taunt her with a possible future life involving marriage and children, but still with the past haunting her. The animation is done, sparse and mostly in brown, red, and grey with a clear absence of blue but with a little green for the vegetation. The director questions how legitimate violence is, of inequality, of commitment, and radicality feels especially relevant today.A well-made animation feature that succeeds in its goal but might be too serious for some folk.
L’INCONNU DE LA GRANDE ARCHE (The Great Arch) (France 2025) ****
Directed by Stéphane Demoustier
An excellent examination of the pains and effort that go into the construction of a high-profile government architectural project.This is the real thing, unlike THE BRUTALIST, and tells the true story surrounding the Danish architect who was commissioned to build the cube in ‘le defense’, the business area in Paris, which was named the Grand Arch or la grande arch because one can see through the cube.The setting is 1983. French President François Mitterrand
decides to launch an international architectural competition for the flagship project of his mandate: the Great Arch of La Défense, aligned with the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. Against all odds, Otto von Spreckelsen ( Claes Bang), a Danish architect, wins the competition. Overnight, this 53-year-old man, unknown in France, arrives in Paris, where he is propelled at the helm of this pharaonic project. While the architect intends to build the
Great Arch, exactly as he envisioned, his ideas quickly clash with realistic constraints and the vicissitudes of politics.The film favours architect von Spreckelsen, who champions his ideals(the cube is his life, he says, the reason for his cry distance) and does not bend toward betrayal of his client.
I ONLY REST IN THE STORM (France/Portugal/Brazil/Romania) ***
Directed by Pedro Pinho
(Un Certain Regard)
The one thing that stands out in director Pesro Pinho’s odyssey of an NGO engineer sanctioned with an almost impossible task is its massive 211 minutes running time. It is a sparse film that is a slow burn for the most part, with a lack of plot that is at least substantiated with some key observations and stunning photography. A white Portuguese aid worker, Sérgio (Sérgio Coragem) arrives in Guinea-Bissau, driving through the desert from Europe, to help one particular NGO with their dealings.He measures roads, engages in conversation but is constantly reminded of his colonial heritage.The film is a hard haul, mainly for its length, though the time passes relatively easily.To watch the film means sacrificing two others at Cannes, so whether it is worth the risk is up to the individual.
METEORS (France 2025) ***½
Directed by Hubert Charnel
Un Certain Regard
Directed by Hubert Charuel, known for his acclaimed debut Bloody Milk, the film explores the lives of three childhood friends in rural France (Languedoc).Languedoc-Roussillon (often called "the Languedoc") is a historical coastal region in southern France, extending from Provence to the Pyrenees Mountains and the border with Spain.Tony has become a construction mogul, dealing with the disposal of radioactive toxic waste, despite the consequences, while Mika and Daniel struggle with aimlessness. Mika and Dan are arrested at the start of the film and have to go clean and prove themselves, for if not face jail time.Their paths converge when they take jobs at a nuclear waste site, leading to a narrative that delves into themes of disillusionment and the search for purpose. The cast includes Paul Kircher, Idir Azougli, and Salif Cissé, all of whom deliver arresting performances that make the movie.It is in a way a coming-of-age story where lessons in life and learnt, lessons that are difficult to learn, that sometimes do not result in desired outcomes. A remarkable and arresting film!
MILITANTROPOS (Ukraine/Austria/France 2025) *** Directed by the Tabor Group
(Quinzaine des Cinéastes)
MILITANTROPOS captures the human condition through the fractured realities of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The word means a human soldier with the star of humans enters during the siege of war.The film pieces together everyday lives transformed by war — those who flee, those who lose everything, (there is an eerie scene of a train fromUkraine to Austria with lots of people on the platform, but the announcement gores that this is an ongoing train) and those who stay to resist and fight (a man insists that he will stay and fight and not be evacuated) — tracing both the instinct to survive and the need for closeness. Amid devastation and atrocity, the human is absorbed into war, and war, in turn, becomes part of the human.An elaborate doc lasting close to 2 hours that achieves it purpose in showing the drastic effects of war on the human being.Shot largely in Ukraine with English subtitles.
DES PREUVRES A’AMOUR (Love Letters)(France 2025) ***½ Directed by Alice Douard
(Semaine de la Critique)
Adopting a child is an emotional and difficult enough personal journey that in the case of the film’s protagonist, Céline, is complicated by the fact that she is lesbian and she and her wife wish to adopt a child. The film’s setting is 2014 in France when same sex marriage is finally legalized. Céline, 32, is awaiting the arrival of her first child. But Céline isn’t pregnant. In three months, it is her wife Nadia who will give birth to their daughter. By law, Céline has to gather testimonies (hopefully not all from lesbians, as her lawyer advises), assuring she will be a competent parent to adopt the child. While doing so, she will confront her own definition of what a ‘good mother’ is. Director Douard dispenses with cheap theatrics and meticulously examines the emotions Céline goes through. Ella Rumpf plays Celine with controlled finesse. It seems that the only advantage of adopting a child, besides having one, is being able to cut the queue when going to a dance club. The film examines one’s belief that having a child is not only a bed of roses but with the thorns that come with it. The film comes with two surprises. One is a cameo from Félix Kysyl (from Alain Giuraudie’s MISERICORDIA) playing Yann, who passes out during a pregnancy delivery briefing and the film’s only funniest part at the film’s climax that packs quite the punch. The French title DES PREUVRES A’AMOUR directly translates to PROOFS OF LOVE en Anglais.
A USEFUL GHOST (Thailand/Singapore/France/Germany 2025) ** Directed by Ratchapoom Boombunchachoke
Un Certain Regard
Described as a black comedy, A USEFUL GHOST is an over 2-hour slow-burning deadpan comedy that moves so slowly that it takes great effort to stay awake, especially when watching the film during a festival. The film boasts a fresh idea. March is mourning his wife, Nat, who has recently passed away due to dust pollution. He discovers her spirit has returned by possessing the vacuum cleaner. Being disturbed by a ghost that appeared after a worker's death shut down their factory, his family rejects the unconventional human-ghost relationship. Msrch’s family accepts the fact and allows him to communicate with the ghost vacuum. Trying to convince them of their love, Nat offers to cleanse the factory. To become a useful ghost, she must first get rid of the useless ones. It is weird to see actors talking or making out with a vacuum cleaner, and the director Ratchapoom Boombunchachoke uses the fact for the utmost effect. The film is mildly amusing and one wonders the point in all of this.
LES BARBARES (MEET THE BARBARIANS) (France 2024) ****
Directed by Julie Delpy
Actress Julie Delpy (star of films by Godard, Kieslowski and Linklater) directs her own film, proving...
