Mascarade

Mascarade is a 2022 French film written and directed by Nicolas Bedos. The film stars Pierre Niney, Isabelle Adjani, François Cluzet, Marine Vacth, Emmanuelle Devos, Laura Morante, Charles Berling, James Wilby, Nicolas Briançon, Christiane Millet, Bruno Raffaelli, Philippe Uchan, and Daniel Hanssens.

The film follows Adrien (Niney), an attractive dancer whose career was shattered by a motorcycle accident. He squanders his youth in idleness, living off the largesse of older women. His life changes when he meets Margot (Vacth), a beautiful and manipulative woman who lives off scams and romantic entanglements. Together, they fantasize about a better life and set up a diabolical scheme, an emotional masquerade.

**Masquerade** is a stylish and well-acted film that is both funny and thought-provoking. Bedos's direction is sharp and confident, and he brings out the best in his cast. Niney and Vacth are both excellent, and they have great chemistry together. The supporting cast is also very good, with standout performances from Adjani, Cluzet, and Devos.

The film's biggest strength is its script. Bedos has written a clever and witty story that is full of surprises. The film is also surprisingly touching, and it explores some complex themes about love, deception, and identity.

However, the film is not without its flaws. The pacing can be a bit slow at times, and the film's ending is a bit too ambiguous for some tastes. Overall, though, **Masquerade** is a well-made and enjoyable film that is sure to please fans of French cinema.

Compared to his first two (and important) films, 'Mr & Mme Adelman' and 'La belle époque', this one falls far short in terms of wit and depth. It develops situations and characters that could be interesting at first glance but end up flat and unconvincing in the final cut.

Marine Vacth, who is gorgeous, plays a character who is adrift, unable to make the right decisions in a world to which she does not belong. Pierre Niney plays a character with no particular charms or skills, which makes the attention he attracts from women seem implausible. Adjani builds a character knowing that what she is presenting is herself as an outdated figure at the end of a glorious career, and she does so magnificently.

The well-constructed set and the camera movements, which are so accurate and restrained that they are barely noticeable, immerse us in the world of wealth and glamour of the French Riviera.

The other actors perform with dignity and style, demonstrating director Nicolas Bedos' ability to handle actors.

However, the script, treated as a flashback with a subgenre of courtroom drama in the background, confuses and blurs the main story, which would be simple and easy to tell if this back-and-forth technique had not been used. This is probably more of an editing error than a script error, and I think it has cost the film better ratings.

I went to this movie on a whim cause I had nothing better to do. I didn't expect much going into it, but I had a great time.

The plot feels familiar but I was never bored or obviously predicting in my mind what was about to happen.

All of the actors did a great job in this movie, there was not one bad performance that stood out to me.

Throughout the movie I was continuously gripped by the story and laughing audibly.

The pace of the movie is amazing as well, there was never a dull moment where I felt like I could run to the bathroom to pee without missing something interesting.

The cinematography was very satisfying as well.

All in all this movie is very enjoyable, but dont expect to see something life-changing. Recommend checking it out!

Pierre Niney is excellent here in this crook gigolo role and Isabelle Adjani more than convincing in the wealthy old maid in love with this gigolo who takes advantage of her and also despises her. Excellent cast, including François Cluzet as the sucker, the patsy. The story telling using a smart editing is not that new, but still efficient to keep the audiences glued to this story taking place on the French Riviera, paradise of superficiality, hypocrisy, where very wealthy people get bored, wealthy dream to get wealthier, and the less wealthy envy those wealthier than them.... Light hearted drama without being a comedy but a true and accurate portrait of human condition. Not a masterpiece but worth viewing.

Very stylish, flawlessly acted (particularly loved François Cluzet), intricate yet realistic and not overly dramatic.

I disagree with it being characterised as satire in another review - this is subtle (or not so much) psychological drama from different viewpoints, which suffers only from its multidimensionality. Towards the end of the film it was difficult for me to keep track of the whole intrigue; nevertheless, it is a deep character study, without the scrutiny which would make it satirical.

The female characters are in their core earthy and sane, despite the ostensible drama; the males are unstable. This may be setting the record straight; I was in fact surprised the author is male.

The cinematography is lavish and pleasant.