The Fantastic Three, a beautiful French-style teen movie (review)

Raphaël Quenard is starring in two good films this week: The Second Act, by Quentin Dupieux, and this first feature by Michaël Dichter.

Max, Vivian and Tom, 13, are inseparable. This start of summer is full of upheavals: the last factory in their small town in the Ardennes closes while Seb, Max's big brother, is released from prison. His schemes will gradually lead the three teenagers into a fall that seems inevitable…

An inseparable trio, bikes, a village where everyone knows each other… The Fantastic Three fills in all the boxes at first glance teen movie French style, social while having kept its “child’s soul”. A few signs will quickly steer the story towards a harder line: the last factory is about to close, Max's brother is coming out of prison, the gang has not yet raised enough money for everyone to go on vacation together, despite social class differences. Thanks to its well-found casting (a beautiful alchemy flows between the children) and particularly involved (Emmanuelle Bercot and Raphaël Quenard, very precisely without trying to pull the cover), the film believes in its summer adventure, quickly finds its cruising speed . He even flies away in most of the scenes filmed at kid height, from the school to the bedroom, including their cabin in the woods. But this breath of fresh air is gradually being overtaken by the socio-political premises distilled in fine touches until now. Brother of a delinquent, Max follows “naturally” this path and immerses the gang in problems beyond their control.

The atmosphere suddenly drops like a summer storm, and this small, harmless village then becomes the scene of drug trafficking, violent school harassment, a settling of scores… From the Ardennes to the cartels of Mexico, he Suddenly there's only one step left: a unique and quite exciting way to take your spectators on a journey!

Fantastic Threeby Michaël Dichter, with Diego Murgia, Emmanuelle Bercot, Raphaël Quenard… Released on May 15, 2024 in the cinema.

Michaël Dichter: “The Fantastic Three is a mix between Stranger Things, Stand By Me and Little Odessa”