It’s the spirit of the times put in a vial. Overwritten, the five devils crushes and compiles an insane number of trends of the moment. Revealed in 2017 by Ava, Léa Mysius films a Métis family in a mountain town where mother and daughter (Adèle Exarchopoulos and little Sally Dramé) share a close bond. Endowed with an overdeveloped sense of smell, Vicky uses this gift to recreate the olfactory essence of those close to her (obviously, no one twitched about associating voodoo imagery with a black kid), and discovers herself capable to travel through his mother’s past, tracing back the secret events that preceded her birth. Add to that a dose of queer love, a burnt out character, the world of gymnastics in sequined leotards, the contractual karaoke scene, and you have a scintillating machine ready to use, as if machined by an artificial intelligence fan of Julia Ducournau and Céline Sciamma. We retain the blatant opportunism of a film intoxicated by its own perfume.
Léa Mysius sells her soul to the “Five Devils” – Liberation
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Presented at the Directors’ Fortnight, the fantastic drama of the French filmmaker oozes opportunism.