Misericordia ***

Starring: Félix Kysyl, Catherine Frot, Jean-Baptiste Durand, Jacques Develay, David Ayalah  

Director: Alain Guiraudie

Country: France

UK Distributor: New Wave Films

There was a moment ten years ago when French director Alain Guiraudie seemed poised on the edge of greatness when he followed up the idiosyncratic King Of Escape with the now classic Queer thriller Stranger By The Lake. The filmmaker is committed to telling quirky stories set in France’s diagonale du vide and since his seminal LGBT+ movie twelve years ago, his work has been somewhat lost in the eccentricities of his distinctive style over compelling storytelling. But as Guiraudie now returns both to a Queer story and to the thriller genre with new film Misericordia, are we finally seeing a return to form? Well no, not quite.

Following the death of his former boss, Jérémie (Kysyl) returns to a remote village for the funeral. Talked into staying for a while by his widow (Frot) at their house, tensions begin to fray as their son (Durand) suspects that this new houseguest is trying to take advantage of his mother’s hospitality to seduce her. But with Jérémie more interested in a reclusive ex-friend (Ayalah) and the local priest (Develay) engrossed by this new arrival, the community is upended by a sudden murder.

Told with Guiraudie’s signature hyper-real style, long observational shots and a complete lack of music mean that the tension builds very slowly, with characters’ aggression and deep-seated paranoia the catalyst for the resulting crimes. But unlike Stranger By The Lake, Misericordia is more focused on its flamboyant characterisation, meaning that plot takes a back seat while the director revels in the almost Absurdist embellishments of this handful of rustic characters. Stranger was such a success because of the silence of its enigmatic suspects, while this film doesn’t hit the mark because everyone says far too much.

That’s not to say that these roles don’t make for entertaining viewing, however. The priest’s uncharacteristic openness is cast intriguingly counterpoint to the completely mysterious Jérémie. While there are no secrets hidden from the audience about the narrative, what is completely uncertain is whether our protagonist is truthful, or what his motives even are. And it’s these shadowy motifs that are the film’s greatest strength… but that’s not enough to make this a successful thriller.

Guiraudie is clearly committed to his Absurdist sensibilities, with Stranger By The Lake the exception rather than the rule. Here, the director is trying to emulate the same style as his most successful film but without shedding the humour of the rest of his canon and, unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work. The result is a film that is half-tense, half-funny and only half-weird, leading to a film that’s only half-good.

UK Release: 28th March 2025 in cinemas, released by New Wave Films

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