''Reality'' () is a 2014 surreal

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by Quentin Dupieux. It stars

Alain Chabat Alain Chabat (; born 24 November 1958) is a French actor, comedian, director, screenwriter, producer and television presenter. Originally known for his work in the comedy group Les Nuls, including as the co-writer and lead actor of ''La Cité de ...

, Jonathan Lambert,

Élodie Bouchez Élodie Bouchez (born 5 April 1973) is a French actress. She became internationally known for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show '' Alias'' and for playing Maïté Alvarez in the film '' Wild Reeds''. ...

Eric Wareheim Eric Alexander Wareheim (; born April 7, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, and musician. He is best known as one half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, alongside Tim Heidecker. He also had a recurring role on the Netflix series ...

, John Glover and

Jon Heder Jonathan Joseph Heder (; born October 26, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for his breakout lead role as the title character of the comedy film ''Napoleon Dynamite'' (2004). He also voiced the character in the Fox animated serie ...

. The film premiered in the Horizons section of the

71st Venice International Film Festival The 71st annual Venice International Film Festival , was held from 27 August to 6 September 2014, at Venice Lido in Italy. French composer Alexandre Desplat was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actress Luisa Ranieri hoste ...

on 28 August 2014. It was released in France on 18 February 2015 by Diaphana Distribution and in Belgium on 25 February 2015 by O'Brother Distribution.

Premise

A wannabe

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

is given 48 hours by a producer to find the best groan of pain, worthy of an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

, as the only condition to back his film. Meanwhile, reality, dreams, and fiction repeatedly overlap.

Cast

Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, alongside Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. He has recorded and released music as a member of the trio Music S ...

, husband of Bouchez and former member of

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

, has a cameo in the film. He plays the patient in the

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...

waiting room A waiting room or waiting hall is a building, or more commonly a part of a building or a room, where people sit or stand until the event or appointment for which they are waiting begins. There are two types of physical waiting room. One has in ...

Music

The soundtrack consists of only the first five minutes of "Music with Changing Parts" by

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The French cinema site

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 ...

gave the film a rating of 3.6/5 stars based on 32 reviews.

References

External links

* * * 2014 films 2014 comedy-drama films 2010s Belgian films 2010s English-language films 2010s French films 2010s French-language films 2010s satirical films Belgian comedy-drama films Belgian satirical films English-language Belgian films English-language comedy-drama films English-language French films Films about filmmaking Films directed by Quentin Dupieux French comedy-drama films French satirical films French-language Belgian films French-language comedy-drama films Surreal comedy films {{2010s-France-film-stub