Balconettes

First thing you need to know going in is that this film is unlike any you will have watched before.

It is funny, it is over the top, it is gore, it is feminist,... it tackles issues such as sexual assault and rape in an empowering way where the victims of SA get their revenge. I loved how Noémi was able to go above and beyond with this movie.

Just go watch it I cannot spoil more to you.

The dialogue is witty and the cinematography is unbelievable. The movie takes place in France during a heatwave and it is almost like you can feel the warmth coming out of your screen.

The entire movie is all together so extremely sexpositive and does not have any shame in it for the female body.

GO WATCH IT NOW ISTG it does not get enough stars on here, this is fr one of my favourite movies right now.

Three very different twenty / thirty something girls - an actress (Élise), a writer (Nicole) and webcam model (Ruby) - try to chill in their Marseilles flats and their balconies during a heatwave. Attracted to the man in the flat across the road they go over for drinks. One stays over and the next day she is found hysterical and covered in blood. The three return to the man's flat to find the man impaled and missing part of his genitals - they determine to cover things up.

Apparently a feminist dark comedy, the amusing elements soon fade morphing into a rather scattergun, somewhat surreal tale of violence to women by rather stereotypical unpleasant men and its impact including Nicole seeing the ghosts of those killed. It's darkly humorous in places but because the characters of the leads never really develop and because every feller here is a complete twerp, it's hard to entirely care too much, sweet though they are. Ultimately different, stylish and with lots of ideas some of which are quite inspired but most just don't really land. - certainly art for art's sake.

Thematically (and I suspect, deliberately) this is all over the map in terms of its inspirations and borrowings from a wild variety of genres. As such, one just has to "go with it" if it's your kind of thing.

I must say though that, for me, too many of the scenes felt familiar from other films (at one point it felt like a direct homage to Almodovar, for example), although Merlant the actor demonstrates admirable commitment to her debut directing project.

There's a serious feminist message here but, given the total lack of sympathetic male characters, it's hardly the most balanced film - I suspect allowing any borderline cases to say to themselves "well, I'm nothing like *that* guy..." rather than perhaps take on board the need to change behaviour somewhat.

Quite fun in parts, and worth a look, but less amusing than I was expecting.

A women's film, which is about woman and for women... And men too anyway... Three fulfilling young friends settled in the south of France to share pleasant moments in the carefree freedom will be confronted with unexpected adventures. A film with a very special tone directed by Noémie Merlant that never ceases to amaze us. It is a subtle mix of funny/gore, tragicomic absurd and offbeat scenes shot «amateur» with saccades and instability. These girls appear to be both naive and strong-willed in their actions. The script has the merit of originality. It's not so much the story that stands out, but the way in which the director exploits the potential of her actresses to soften the atrocity. In short, we spend a pleasant moment of cinema without dieting.

Temperatures soar in the south of France, the air is boiling in Marseille, people are advised to stay home and enjoy each other's company. However, Denise has had enough of the company of her abusive husband, who is always hungry, so she stabs him with a spade, and then suffocates him to death on their balcony. This is how the story starts, but it's not Denise who's the main character: the plot revolves around three younger women Nicole, Ruby and Elise who decide to have a little get-together on Nicole's balcony that evening and they will never stop.

This picture is Noémie Merlant's debut as adirector, and she's doing this with a blast. She's not scared to combine all the existing film genres in one: horror, love story, thriller, drama, comedy, etc. But she doesn't seem to care about the genre, what she does care about is to make her message very clear. She says, no, yells, shrieks, screams: a lot of women are daily raped, violated, humiliated, oppressed, and victim-blamed by men, most of whom are their boyfriends, husbands or neighbors. Noémie doesn't want them to get away with it, nor do her grotesque characters, who will find their liberation, and they don't care at what cost.

An astonishing, gross, graphic and very confident debut. Bravo Noémie!