The Origin of Evil

The Origin of Evil

In a luxurious seaside villa, a modest young woman finds herself in the company of a strange family : an unknown and wealthy father, his extravagant wife, his daughter, an ambitious woman, a rebellious teenager, and their creepy maid.

  • Released: 2022-10-05
  • Runtime: 123 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, Thrillers
  • Stars: Laure Calamy, Doria Tillier, Jacques Weber, Dominique Blanc, Suzanne Clément, Véronique Ruggia Saura, Céleste Brunnquell, Clotilde Mollet
  • Director: Sébastien Marnier
 Comments
  • Pairic - 1 April 2024
    The Talented Ms Ripley!
    The Origin of Evil; A French and Canadian Noir Black comedy which flirts with the slipstream of Horror. Nathalie (Laura Calamy) is a Ripleyesque character, an identity thief who now attempts to assume the role of Stephane the long lost daughter of a wealthy man, Serge (Jacques Weber). His family are not happy to see her, George (Doria Tillier), her "half sister" is especially suspicious. Serge's wife Louise (Dominique Blanc) is also unwelcoming at first but begins to see Nathalie as a possible companion. Though she works in a fish canning plant on the production line, Nathalie pretends that she owns the factory. It is certainly an odd household, Georges's daughter Jeanne (Celeste Brunnquell) describes it as a madhouse, Louise obsessively buys all sorts of things online, every room in the villa has unopened boxes, Jeanne continuously takes photographs. The family are uncaring towards Serge, bullying him since he had a stroke, not helping him up when he falls, trying to gain power of attorney over his business. The housekeeper Agnes is a spy for Louise and George. Serge sees Nathalie as a potential ally who can be a witness at his competency hearing. But there are many plot twists to come as Nathalie reveals hidden strengths to emerge as a very talented Ms Ripley indeed as her intentions become more refined. But even she has problems as her imprisoned lover ( Suzanne Clement) retains an interest in her. Sharp dialogue, an interesting use of split screen, sometimes up to five different viewpoints simultaneously and the darkest of humour speed this narrative along. Great acting from an ensemble cast. The ghost of Patricia Highsmith is smiling down on this production. Directed and Co-Written by Sebastien Marnier. 8/10.
  • AvionPrince16 - 15 November 2022
    Identity theft and greed
    A more or less convincing film but it takes a long time to put together! Too verbal and the film for me is too explicit and not very subtle: whether it's the reactions of the actresses, the music and questions that come out of nowhere (the question of Stéphane's identity which is called into question because the woman has rummaged through her belongings seemed completely illogical to me. Otherwise the surprises are there but once they questioned her identity: we already knew that she was not her daughter (well I knew). On the other hand the fact that she changed her identity with the other woman in prison - Serge's real daughter and that she didn't know about was a nice surprise I admit. Justifies the excessive violence of women and insults that I find on the contrary does not create any atmosphere but simply awkwardness. I was convinced by certain things (greed, the real motivation of Serge's false daughter the fact of to do without the consent of her real daughter with whom she has sexual relations) and much less in other aspects (music, characters who are not very complex apart from the false daughter of Serge and Stephane precisely, the others are there as a reason for accusation, false leads and complicity in the murder of Serge.) I found the plot to tilt more towards identity theft than the women who want his money and who act as accusations even if it is mentioned on several occasions. I am quite disappointed all the same, even though there are still quite strong scenes (the death of Serge by his fake daughter and the complicity of one of the women to cover her up, the murder also of the Real Stephane, as well as the investigators who reveal at the very end in front of the whole family the real identity and the fact that she stole the identity of the girl all this time, the false testimony of the false girl before the jurors and therefore the surprise of the testimony) I still find it good tied up and offers beautiful moments: I found the scenes of nudity pleasant: the women and their bodies are honored in the film on many occasions. Very sensual. A film definitely worth watching.