Body horror, psychological issues, and social commentary best describe the cinema of Julia Ducournau and we could potentially find the same in what could be flammable material in the competition. She premiered Raw in the Critics’ Week in 2016, and the last time she was in Cannes, she claimed the Palme d’Or with (what many considered a historic win) Titane (read ★★★★ review). Her partnership with NEON continues on what is now the French filmmaker’s third feature film. Alpha, is about a troubled 13-year-old lives with her single mom. Their world collapses the day she returns from school with a tattoo on her arm. This should be set in 1980s France. Golshifteh Farahani, an emaciated Tahar Rahim, Emma Mackey and Finnegan Oldfield star with Mélissa Boros. Filming took place in Le Havre in September and October.
The last, and only time that Ducournau was graded by our Cannes Critics’ Panel (2021), she stoked a fire with our folks (3.5 average score) – it ranked close to the top which was owned by Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria. This time around, her film did not go unnoticed but perhaps when all is said and done this was a better fit as a midnight screening. The thirteenth film in competition, Alpha immediately sank to the bottom of our chart with sixteen critics an average score of 1.9.
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