Lovers: a stylized sentimental thriller (review)
Pierre Niney, Stacy Martin and Benoit Magimel shine in front of Nicole Garcia’s camera.
Nicole Garcia’s cinema never seeks to be friendly. For 30 years, the actress-turned-filmmaker has been producing dramas whose essential core is love put to death. His modern tragedies feature men or women trapped by their excess of feelings. Four years after the disturbing Stone pain, the director continues her exploration of female torments. Because the heroine ofLovers, it’s Lisa (Stacy Martin), this young woman caught between the love of the past, Simon (Pierre Niney), a little thug who resurfaces years after disappearing, and the husband of the present, Léo (Benoît Magimel ), more stable businessman. If the dilemma seems to revolve for the young woman between passion and reason, the plot gradually reveals itself, in layers, to be much more complex, thanks to the rather troubled and brilliantly interpreted character of the husband. All unsaid, Magimel contrasts Pierre Niney with silences and looks that increase the tension.
Of course, we can criticize Nicole Garcia for not really surprising with this passionate thriller and for being less feverish than the title would lead us to hope. But it is because we must look for the influence of an assumed darkness in Henri-Georges Clouzot more than in Louis Malle. We admire the coldness that the filmmaker gives to the most heavenly landscape there is – Mauritius. And as usual, his fine analysis of class relations and the attraction of money brings a welcome depth to the sentimental thriller.
By Nicole Garcia. With Stacy Martin, Pierre Niney, Benoît Magimel… Duration: 1h42. Released November 17, 2021
