Les Cinq Diables

Les Cinq Diables, c’est un spectacle de genre accrocheur dont le thème avait également l'étoffe d'un thriller palpitant et funeste, mais il s'est malheureusement échoué quelque part entre les deux concepts, comme si les cinéastes avaient abandonné leurs ambitions les plus élevées pour finalement se contenter d'un mélodrame familial sécuritaire. Autrement dit, plutôt que de se jeter corps et âme dans le final, il s'éteint tranquillement dans le vide. Et ça, c'est très dommage. [KVIFF 2022] (12/07/2022)

This review contains spoilers. Wow, I'd really like to see a serious horror story about a kid from the future terrorizing his parents' past homosexual partners to get a chance to be born! That has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, The Five Devils hints at that motif only slightly and never fully develops it. As a result, the film doesn’t have enough of the genre and fantasy to satisfy me, but at the same time, it's too fantastical and far-fetched to be taken as a serious drama and to relate to the characters. (56th KVIFF) (10/07/2022)

The Five Devils can be read as a metaphor for the sixth sense of children, who are able to perceive things that remain hidden to adults, and as a reflection on entangled human relationships that cannot be rationally tamed. My partner and I may have a child that we love above all else, but that does not mean that we are meant for each other and must stay together until death. While the film does not stylistically approach the experiments that the notion of temporal flashbacks triggered by olfactory reactions conjures up, it does present a gripping story of one seemingly ordinary family whose members are given a second chance through slightly fantastical events. The ending is rich in interpretation and Léa Mysius works with supernatural motifs and humorous interludes in a natural and effective way. I was pleasantly drawn in all the time, and not only thanks to Adèle Exarchopoulos, with whom I managed to fall in love five times after Blue Is the Warmest Color. She’s like fine wine. (03/07/2022)