The Five Devils (Léa Mysius, 2022)

Lately there has been a certain tendency to build films with classic narrative structures framed within very clear genres such as drama or comedy, which decide to subtly incorporate an element of the fantastic genre with the aspiration of improving reading and reinforcing the strong points and intentions of the work. It is a dangerous decision, because instead of adding and contributing positively, it can sometimes feel forced, causing the opposite effect. In the five devils the fantasy element is a natural part of realistic and dramatic storytelling with complicated character conflict development. Moreover, it is so interesting that the viewer may be even more attracted to the mechanisms that make this illusory aspect work than to the real conflict that drives the film.

Vicky is an eight-year-old mestizo girl who tries to take refuge from the bullying he receives at school through the development of his great supernatural power. Vicky has an incredible sense of smell that not only allows her to identify any type of smell but also allows her to travel back in time. Her daily life is truncated with the appearance of her aunt, a woman not only disowned by the entire community of the small town in the French Alps where she lives, but also by her own mother. To find out what the hell is going on, Vicky uses her power to travel dangerously into the past, to the adolescence of her parents and her aunt, in order to understand what is happening in the present. But the presence of the young girl in the past ends up having consequences, especially on her aunt, who seems to be the only one capable of perceiving her presence.

Although at first glance it seems like a purely fantastic film, the five devils It is a work that focuses on the resolution of relationships between characters marked by traumatic events from the past.. Vicky will not only serve as a bridge so that the viewer can understand the context of the problem, but also acts simultaneously as its cause and solution. Beyond a curious experiment, the work of the filmmaker Léa Mysius is a film with a great human content, capable of reflecting and competently capturing very complicated feelings and personal conflicts on the big screen. A filmmaker who will have to follow in her footsteps as she promises to become one of the next most influential directors of French cinema.

the five devils (Léa Mysius, 2022) ⭐️⭐️⭐️½