Thalasso

An unwonted fiction in which Michel Houellebecq comes out of a sequestration for ransom following a kidnapping organized by François Hollande, former president of the French Republic, and suffered, we do not really know why, a lugubrious sea-water therapy in Cabourg where he meets, by chance, Gérard Depardieu.

An improbable encounter among two French giants, literature for the first one, cinematography for the second one, in an offbeat comedy based on partially existentialist and voluntarily absurd dialogues about ... higgledy-piggledy ... death, pussy rejections, wine abuse, reference to the truth, body resurrection, mud made of algae, religion, old age, ...

A praise of hedonism, sometimes screamingly funny, sometimes excessively tiresome in an unaccomplished film. 5/6 of 10

A film of beasts. Beasts in the sense, rich and varied bestiary. The animals are humans here, described with their pictures, their obsessions or not, scripted or not. It doesn't matter. Because when you film Gérard Depardieu, or when you film Michel Houellebecq, there is nothing to do: their personality is out of the ordinary. Added to this is the gang that kidnapped Michel Houellebecq in a previous film by Guillaume Nicloux, a gang that is also made up of a beautiful bestiary.

This sequel to The Abduction Of Michel Houellebecq (2013) is a curiosity. For its actors who are in a way open books (in reality, they are more like semi-open books, even closed). The script follows them through their thalassotherapy care at first, then their interaction with the kidnappers who come to Michel Houellebecq for help. The first part is predictable and does not surprise many people. The second part of the story is more intriguing and revives the film, in a way. For something very simple: why the mother left. We are not in a world-saving issue here, and that feels good. It is possible to tell a story with simple things (and not simplistic). A rejuvenating film in a way.

Terrible attempt at making a movie out of two stars.