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A playful modern-day riff on The Nativity via baroque French formalism, as exuberantly funny as it is richly intellectual.
Teaming up with producers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Franco-American aesthete Eugène Green (La Sapienza, MIFF 2015; The Portugese Nun, MIFF 2010) continues his interrogation of family and high art in this philosophical, dryly funny farce pitched somewhere between coming-of-age tale and arch social satire.
Determined to find the identity of his unknown father, 15-year-old Vincent tracks down philandering, narcissistic publisher Oscar (Mathieu Amalric), only to be mistaken for a writing prodigy and drawn into the pretentious world of the Parisian literary circuit. What follows is both a delicious comedy of mistaken identity and a dynamic formal workout, with Green's stylised acting and rigorous compositions mixing with biblical parody, deadpan zingers and running gags involving Caravaggio, tortured rodents and the online sperm market.
"Eccentric, graceful and utterly charming. This exquisite rumination on life, love and misplaced paternity might just be Green's best, most accessible film to date." – CineVue
