It's hard to figure out the rules of the game in Misericordia

The Age

17-05-2025

MISERICORDIA
★★★★
R. 103 minutes, selected cinemas
Nobody could call Alain Guiraudie's Misericordia the work of a prude. But despite a couple of fleeting surprises, there's a lot less visible sex and nudity than in Guiraudie's best-known film, the 2013 Stranger By the Lake, an elegant erotic thriller set in a secluded gay cruising spot.
Guiraudie's excuse might be that Stranger By the Lake was a summer film, whereas the equally original and provocative Misericordia is an ode to autumn, when it's logical to stay covered up.
It's early November when the hero Jeremie (Felix Kysyl) returns after a decade to the mountainous region of Occitanie in southern France (Guiraudie's home turf too, and the setting for most of his films).
As he gets out of the car, we can hear the breeze and feel the chill setting in. The chestnut trees in the nearby forest are turning gold, mushrooms sprout from the damp soil, mist hangs in the air.
All of this sets an appropriate mood, given that what has brought Jeremie home is death – the death not of a relative, as we might first suppose, but of his old boss at the local bakery, a crucial figure in his life.
This means reuniting with Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), the son of the deceased and a childhood friend of Jeremie's who now views him with suspicion, especially when Jeremie decides to stick around after the funeral at the home of Vincent's mother Martine (Catherine Frot).
A good deal of what has occurred between these characters is left to the imagination, while Jeremie is an enigma in his own right as protagonists go. He could be around 30, or somewhat older; his manner combines shyness and self-assurance, while his large, pale blue eyes seem both trustworthy and not.