Director: Bruno Dumont
Year Released: 2016
Rating: 0.5
People keep disappearing around a beach in northern France, so "police detectives" Machin (Didier Després) and Malfoy (Cyril Rigaux) are "busy investigating" (but in actuality, Machin, already a little plump, rolls around the sand when he isn't magically flying in the air) - elsewhere, a family of mussel farmers (who physically carry tourists over the water) meet with the wealthy Van Peteghems (including Fabrice Luchini and Juliette Binoche) when one of the Van Peteghems, Billie (Raph), "dates" poor Ma Loute (Brandon Lavieville). This movie is simply unbearable, which is sad considering Dumont's stature - it's like he's drifted into self-parody, with his old themes ('earthy' non-actors, graphic violence, religious symbolism, rural settings, etc.) thoughtlessly rehashed ... and now he has some of his 'performers' acting like they're straight out of a campy theatrical production (I winced entirely too often at Luchini and Binoche embellishing every single line). I could sense he was leaning toward absurd/deadpan comedy with Li'l Quinquin - and it worked there, for the most part - but this is over-the-top and technically pointless (plus, his treatment of the gender flip-flopping Billie character is crude - give the kids time to figure themselves out, man).
