Misericordia

Rating: 15 
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama 
Director: Alain Guiraudie  
Stars: Félix Kysyl, Catherine Frot, Jean-Baptiste Durand 

The teasingly entwined ambiguities of love and death continue to fascinate Alain Guiraudie, who returns with a sharp, sinister, yet slyly funny thriller. Set in an autumnal, woodsy village in his native region of Occitanie, his latest follows the meandering exploits of Jérémie, an out-of-work baker who has drifted back to his hometown after the death of his beloved former boss, a bakery owner. Staying long after the funeral, the seemingly benign Jérémie begins to casually insinuate himself into his mentor's family, including his kind-hearted widow and venomously angry son, while making an increasingly surprising--and ultimately beneficial--friendship with an oddly cheerful local priest. In Guiraudie’s quietly carnal world, violence and eroticism explode with little anticipation, and criminal behavior can seem like a natural extension of physical desire. The French director is at the top of his game in Misericordia, again upending all genre expectations.