Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2018: #79. Patricia Mazuy’s Paul Sanchez est revenu!

Paul Sanchez est revenu!

A noted but infrequently appearing cinematic presence, director Patricia Mazuy returns with her fifth feature, Paul Sanchez est revenu! (aka Paul Sanchez is Back), a comedy thriller headlined by two hot commodities—recent Cesar nominee Laurent Lafitte of Verhoeven’s Elle (2016) and Zita Hanrot of Philippe Faucon’s Fatima, which nabbed her a Cesar for Most Promising Actress. Lafitte stars as the titular character, a criminal who went missing fifteen years prior but suddenly resurfaces. Mazuy, who has worked with a stunning array of noted performers across her previous four films, including Sandrine Bonnaire in her 1989 debut Peaux de vaches, Isabelle Huppert in 2000’s Saint-Cyr and Marina Hands, Josiane Balasko and Bruno Ganz in 2011’s Girls Sport (aka Of Women and Horses), has yet to receive US distribution for any of her titles. Over the past several years, she’s appeared in supporting roles in several film productions, most notably in Jacques Doillon’s 2017 Rodin.

Release Date/Prediction: Filming took place in early 2017, with production company Ex Nihilo planning for a release in the second half of 2018. Mazuy has twice appeared at Cannes in Un Certain Regard (for 1989’s Peaux de vaches and 2000’s Saint-Cyr), but Paul Sanchez est revenu! may prove to be a bit too mainstream for the Croisette. If so, this will most likely appear at a smaller Euro film festival thanks to its two leads.