Léa Mysius’ The Five Devils is a dark French fantasy thriller that’s been spinning heads since its premiere at Cannes last year – and if this stunning and eerie official trailer is anything to go by, we can definitely see why.
The Five Devils, which has been described as a ‘queer, witchy thriller’, stars Adèle Exarchopolous (Blue Is The Warmest Color) and newcomer Sally Dramé. The official plot synopsis teases one of the most imaginative concepts for a super power we’ve ever heard:
Vicky, a strange and solitary little girl, has a magical gift: she can reproduce any scent she likes, and collects them in a series of carefully labeled jars. She has secretly captured the scent of Joanne, her mother for whom she nurtures a wild, excessive love. When her father’s sister Julia bursts into their life, Vicky reproduces her smell and is transported into dark and archaic memories which lead her to uncover the secrets of her village, her family and her own existence.
In a press interview with The Five Devils distributor MUBI, Mysius revealed that David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, Kubrick’s The Shining and Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us were all influences on the genre-bending new feature. The Ava director didn’t originally set out to create a genre film, but quickly found her place in dark fantasy due to her love of ‘constructing another reality…a desire to re-enchant the world, to propose a new belief system.’
The film has certainly been enchanting the festival scene, winning Best Picture in Fantastic Fest’s ‘New Wave’ category last year.
The Five Devils will opens in theaters on March 24 – if you’re in New York, this weekend you can catch The Five Devils with a Q+A from Mysius at the Walter Reade theater as part of the the 28th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. If you’re not in NYC, look out for a screening near you, and check out the official trailer and poster below while you do so:
