Netflix is close to a deal to acquire Marie Kreutzer’s “Gentle Monster” following the Cannes debut of the harrowing family drama that generated early awards buzz for star Léa Seydoux. The streamer already won a bidding war for the popular title “La Bola Negra” earlier Saturday, so a second acquisition could be a boon.
Seydoux’s Cannes legend began with his breakthrough performance in 2013’s Palme d’Or-winning Blue is the Warmest Color. She returned to the festival this year to star in two films in competition, Gentle Monster and Arthur Harari’s sci-fi film The Unknown.
In the former, Seydoux plays Lucy, an avant-garde musician who has just moved into a rural home near Munich with her husband Philippe (Laurence Rapp) and son. The synopsis for the film reads: “Their lives change forever one morning when the police arrive at their home to arrest Philip and seize his computer.” “Devastated, Lucy searches for the truth about her husband. Who is he really? Should she keep him from her son?”
Gela Haas and Catherine Deneuve also star in the film, which received a lengthy ovation after its Cannes premiere on May 15th. A review in Variety magazine praised the Parisian actress for skillfully embodying the anguish caused by the shocking revelation of her husband’s involvement in a child pornography ring and the growing suspicion that he may have abused their children. “Seydoux is particularly strong in expressing Lucy’s willful, sometimes self-deceptive desire to, in her words, ‘make this all happen,'” the review said.
“Gentle Monster” also requires Seydoux to sing in a way that evokes lost passion.
“When I was little, singing was my only form of expression,” Seydoux told Variety’s Daniel Daddario in a recent cover story. She once dreamed of singing professionally, but was isolated and bullied at school and eventually became so withdrawn that she stopped singing altogether.
Kreutzer’s film thus allowed her to regain her voice. “When you act in a movie, you can hide yourself, you can transform. There are layers. The screen and the camera are layers between you and the people. But when you sing, when you sing, you’re so vulnerable,” Seydoux said, explaining how she convinced herself it was worth it. “I have to sing, and that’s okay,” she recalls thinking. “I think I can do it. That’s exactly what Lucy is.”
MK2 Films represents the filmmaker. Deadline first reported news of the negotiations.
