Annual Top Films Lists

Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2020: #16. Viens je t’emmène – Alain Guiraudie

Published on January 3, 2020

Viens je t’emmène / Come, I Will Take You There

For his sixth film, French auteur Alain Guiraudie tackles the strangeness of more intimate human entanglements with Viens je t’emmène (Come, I Will Take You There). If Stranger by the Lake (2013) tackled the hedonism of casual sex and 2016’s Staying Vertical (read review) could be read as a strange metaphor on courtship, his latest is meant to question the myth of “living together.” His latest stars Noemie Lvovsky, Jean-Charles Clichet, and Ilies Kadri and is being produced by CG Cinema.

Gist: Named for a song by Frances Gall (listen here), in Viens je t’emmène Christmas Eve is ruined by an act of terrorism in the city of Clermont-Ferrand. As the city descend into panic, thirtysomething Mederic falls in love with older prostitute Isadora.

Release Date/Prediction: Guiraudie’s latest will film at the tail end of 2019, which makes Cannes a doubtful prospect. However, Guiraudie usually bows at Cannes, seeing as both 2003’s No Rest for the Brave and 2009’s King of Escape went to the Director’s Fortnight and 2013’s Stranger by the Lake premiered in Un Certain Regard while 2016’s Staying Vertical brought him into the main competition. Post-production and pedigree suggest Guiraudie could be a contender in Venice (however, Locarno shouldn’t be ruled out either).

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.