DramaFantasyRomance

The Five Devils

8-year-old Vicky has a mysterious gift: she can recreate any scent she comes across, even that of her beloved mother Joanne. When her estranged aunt Julia suddenly returns to town, the invocation of her fragrance plunges the young girl back in time to unravel a past replete with family secrets.

Release Date : 2022-08-31

Language :SpanishFrenchEnglish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : F Comme FilmLe PacteWild BunchAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes CinémaTrois Brigands Productions

Production Country : France

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Joanne Soler

Original Name : Adèle Exarchopoulos

Gender : Female

Character Name : Vicky Soler

Original Name : Sally Dramé

Gender : Female

Character Name : Julia Soler

Original Name : Swala Emati

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jimmy Soler

Original Name : Moustapha Mbengue

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nadine

Original Name : Daphné Patakia

Gender : Female

Character Name : Le père de Joanne

Original Name : Patrick Bouchitey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jeff

Original Name : Hugo Dillon

Gender : Male

Character Name : La mère de famille

Original Name : Antonia Buresi

Gender : Female

Character Name : La serveuse en rollers

Original Name : Noée Abita

Gender : Female

Character Name : La petite fille blonde

Original Name : Charlotte Bon Bornier

Gender : Male

Character Name : L'entraîneur de gym

Original Name : Alain Guillot

Gender : Male

Character Name : La directrice de l'école

Original Name : Stéphanie Lhorset

Gender : Male

Character Name : La chanteuse du karaoké

Original Name : Inès Helouin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Le DJ du karaoké

Original Name : Merwan Rim

Gender : Male

Character Name : Le garçon de la bande

Original Name : Habib Rharbaoui

Gender : Male

Character Name : La géante rousse

Original Name : Jade Kleine

Gender : Male

Character Name : Le père de la géante rousse

Original Name : Julien Reneaut

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gymnaste

Original Name : Clara Borne

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gymnaste

Original Name : Johara Telli

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gymnaste

Original Name : Anaïs Estival

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gymnaste

Original Name : Alexandra Fernandes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gymnaste

Original Name : Leïa Giraud

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gymnaste

Original Name : Eva Queiros

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gymnaste

Original Name : Margot Raynaud

Gender : Male

Character Name : La petite fille de la fin

Original Name : Eloah Louisjuste

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2023-04-01

"Vicky" (Sally Dramé) lives with her school swimming coach mother "Joanne" (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and fireman father "Jimmy" (Moustapha Mbengue). Despite a fair degree of quite nasty teasing from her schoolmates, she is a happy enough child who has an astonishing gift. She has the most acute sense of smell. She can differentiate between natural and man-made scents - she can even sniff her mother out in the woods, at a distance, amongst all the other fragrances. The appearance of her aunt "Julia" (Swala Emati) causes upset though. She has just been released from prison and her arrival at their home seems to unleash in the young girl an enhanced set of powers that allows her to see into the past, as if she were a bystander, and slowly a story of lust, love and violence is revealed. It's an intriguing premiss, but somehow it just never really stays focussed long enough to become interesting. Some of the characters - especially the young Dramé are engaging enough, but the story itself is weak and underwhelming. It's not that it is boring, it isn't: it's that for too long nothing happens and then when something does, it is usually seen through the eyes of a child far too innocent to fully appreciate (I hope) what she is witness too. There is plenty of sexual fluidity here, and even a bit of tragedy at the end, but for the most part it's a jigsaw puzzle of a film with too many pieces that either don't fit or don't matter. It kills one hundred minutes easily enough, but I doubt I will ever watch it again.

badelf

@badelf

2024-08-15

Léa Mysius has created a fascinating study here in The Five Devils. It reminds me a lot of Kubrick's horror, The Shining. Both films revolve around a protagonist that is a child gifted with the "Shining", the gift of "seeing" what others do not. The common thread is that the gift is really a metaphor for how much adults underestimate what a child sees, hears, and understands. Mysius uses magic surrealism as the vehicle for her exposition. It's quite charming and exciting. It's very well done and worth the accolades, even though I felt the script had just a few faults that took me away from complete enjoyment.