''Misericordia'' () is a 2024

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

written and directed by

Alain Guiraudie Alain Guiraudie (; born 15 July 1964) is a French film director and screenwriter. He has directed ten mostly LGBT-related films since 1990. He is openly gay. Work Guiraudie has named Georges Bataille as an important influence. His 2013 film '' ...

. It stars Félix Kysyl and

Catherine Frot Catherine Frot (; born 1 May 1956) is a French actress. A 10-time César Award nominee, she won the awards for Best Actress for '' Marguerite'' (2015) and Best Supporting Actress for '' Family Resemblances'' (1996). Her other films include '' L ...

. The film premiered in the Cannes Premiere section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 2024, where it competed for the

Queer Palm The Queer Palm is an independently sponsored prize for selected LGBT-relevant films entered into the Cannes Film Festival. The award was founded in 2010 by journalist Franck Finance-Madureira. It is sponsored by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Mart ...

. It was theatrically released in France on 16 October 2024, by

Les Films du Losange Les Films du Losange (, ), also known as Le Losange, is a film production, film distribution and international sales company founded by Barbet Schroeder and Éric Rohmer in 1962. History Les Films du Losange was founded by Barbet Schroeder and É ...

. The film received the

Louis Delluc Prize The Louis Delluc Prize ( ) is a French film award presented annually since 1937. The award is bestowed to the Best Film and Best First Film of the year on the second week of each December. The jury is composed of 20 members, consisting of a group ...

for 2024. It received eight nominations at the

50th César Awards The 50th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, was held on 28 February 2025 at the Olympia in Paris, honouring the best French films of 2024. Actress Catherine Deneuve presided over the ceremony f ...

, including Best Film, but won none.

Plot

Jérémie returns to his hometown of Saint-Martial to attend his former boss's funeral. He stays for a few days with the widow Martine. His presence angers her son Vincent. This causes a fight between the two men, which ends with Jérémie killing Vincent. He manages to conceal his crime with the unexpected help of the village priest, who provides him with an alibi in exchange for his affection.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by

Charles Gillibert Charles Gillibert (born 14 September 1977) is a French film producer. Since 2021, he has served as the president of Les Films du Losange. Life and career Gillibert was born in Tassin-la-Demi-Lune. His parents were Michel Gillibert and Françoi ...

at CG Cinéma, in co-production with Scala Films, Arte France Cinéma, Andergraun Films (Spain) and Rosa Filmes (Portugal).

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on 30 October 2023 and wrapped on 15 December 2023. The film was shot in southern

Aveyron Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...

along the border of

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Sauclières Sauclières (; ) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aveyron department The following is a list of the 285 communes of the Aveyron department of France. Out of the land are ...

was used as the location of the film's fictional Saint-Martial setting. The film was also shot in the nearby villages of

Millau Millau (; ) is a commune in Occitania, France. Located at the confluence of the Tarn and Dourbie rivers, the town is a subprefecture of the Aveyron department. Millau is known for its Viaduct, glove industry and several nearby natural ...

, Nant and Saint-Jean-du-Bruel. Other scenery included the

Dourbie The Dourbie (; ) is a long river in southern France. It is a left tributary of the Tarn. Its source is north of Le Vigan, in the Cévennes. It flows generally west through the following departments and towns: * Gard: Dourbies * Aveyron: Sai ...

gorges, the

Mont Aigoual Mont Aigoual (; , elevation 1567m / 5141 ft) is the highest point of the Gard '' department'', France. It is part of the Massif Central, and it is located within the Cévennes National Park. Its southern slopes are the source of the river ...

forest and Suquet ridge. Claire Mathon served as the

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, after having worked on the cinematography for Guiraudie's earlier films '' Stranger by the Lake'' (2013) and ''

Staying Vertical ''Staying Vertical'' () is a 2016 French drama film written and directed by Alain Guiraudie. The story follows a filmmaker who has to raise a child (whom he had with a shepherdess) by himself while seeking inspiration for his new film. The film w ...

'' (2016).

Release

''Misericordia'' was selected to be screened in the non-competitive Cannes Premiere section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 20 May 2024. Shortly after, Sideshow and

Janus Films Janus Films is an American film distribution company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstein ...

acquired the North American distribution rights. International sales were handled by

, which also theatrically released the film in France on 16 October 2024. Karma Films is scheduled to release theatrically the film in Spain on 14 March 2025. The film made its North American premiere at the 51st Telluride Film Festival. It also screened in the Special Presentations programme of the

2024 Toronto International Film Festival The 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 5–15, 2024. The festival opened with David Gordon Green's film ''Nutcrackers (film), Nutcrackers'', and closed with Rebel Wilson's directorial debut film ''The Deb (fil ...

, as well as in the Main Slate section of the 62nd New York Film Festival. It was also selected for the

69th Valladolid International Film Festival The 69th Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci) took place from 18 to 26 October 2024, in Valladolid, Spain. '' They Will Be Dust'' opened the festival. Background In June 2024, the festival announced the update of its branding image ...

, and had its South Asian premiere at the

MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 The MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 took place between 19 and 24 October 2024 in Mumbai, India. It was the first edition of the festival under interim festival director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, following the departure of Anupama Chopra from the ...

in the World Cinema section.

Reception

Critical response

AlloCiné AlloCiné is an entertainment website founded by Jean-David Blanc in 1988, then joined by Patrick Holzman. It has belonged to the company since 2013 Webedia. which specializes in providing information on French cinema, mostly centering on nove ...

, the film received an average rating of 3.9 out of 5, based on 34 reviews from French critics. The film was named the best film of the year by the French film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Film, 2020s, France, Spain, Portugal 2024 films 2024 thriller films 2024 drama films 2020s French films 2020s French-language films 2020s Spanish films Arte France Cinéma films Films directed by Alain Guiraudie Films set in Occitania (administrative region) Films shot in Aveyron French-language Spanish films French thriller films Spanish thriller films Portuguese thriller films 2024 LGBTQ-related films French LGBTQ-related films Portuguese LGBTQ-related films Spanish LGBTQ-related films LGBTQ-related thriller films Les Films du Losange films Louis Delluc Prize winners