Mascarade (2022)
9/10
A film of very good quality even if the masquerade is there!
26 October 2022
Warning: Spoilers
A film that gives many surprises, revelations, love, sex, money, conspiracy, characters much more complex than they seem and a masquerade. I really appreciated the structure of the film: the fact that we start with a flash forward which plunges us directly to the end of the film which results from our misunderstanding; but little by little the film reveals the characters, their inclinations, their objectives, their hidden faces and plots. I was pleasantly surprised and laughed many times. Because yes the film is comedy. The sexual scenes are also presented although a little prude although we saw a penis on the screen at the time of the blackmail (which was rather unexpected because things were hidden from us at the beginning and it was only visible without revealing any private part). The character of Margot was rather interesting although sometimes extreme (sucking off a stranger in a stolen car) and comical (the part where she takes an English accent and tries to coax). The character of Adrien also remains interesting and the double game that they will play to extract money from their targets will tell us about their deceit, manipulation and theft that we will enjoy watching all the same. Isabelle Adjani is wonderful in her role. So a game is established that involves Margot, Adrien, Martha, Simon, Carole and Jeanne (at the end we will understand better). What is quite brilliant in the scenario is that we don't really know who to trust: we watch everyone do their shenanigans and we hope that it will work for Adrien and Margot. But a relationship based on such a brief moment may also raise questions about the depth of Margot's plot: can she go deeper? Yes, because we learn at the end that her real plan was to live alone with her daughter in a luxurious house: something she manages to do at the expense of Adrien who remains a prisoner with a woman with an English accent (irony of fate). I found that the development took its time to build this game and this masquerade because the scenes in court let us think from the start that things have turned into Drama and it is that Simon is being completely fooled by Margot; he will learn it much later. I found the film brilliant in its dialogues, lines, the comedy and the seriousness which affect almost the whole film and especially a plot which grows when the various court testimonies follow one another. The film also has many surprises about the stolen objects and the fact that Margot intended to steal everything and keep it for herself, but Adrien had made people believe that the paintings were worthless (another revelation that I found unexpected).

I can only recommend this film which is a real masquerade in the good sense of the word. With funny, dramatic, sexual, romantic passages, surprises in the scenario (in the staging, the script, the dialogues). I really fell in love with the characters in all their pettiness as well as their motivations and what was to come. An incredible surprise that I enjoyed discovering at the cinema.
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