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Quentin Dupieux
The Second Act
Le Deuxième Acte
FR
2024, 76', fr
Age 16+

Florence is eager to introduce her father to David, with whom she is madly in love. But David has a sneaky plan – he wants to play cupid and steer Florence toward his friend Willy.  A fair trade, he thinks. Yet, they're all aware they're characters in a film. That's why, as the script predicts, they'll sort out their relationships in the middle of nowhere, at a restaurant called The Second Act.

Everything you’ve heard about Dupieux, Europe's current most prolific cinematic absurdist, is true. He's churned out ten feature films in ten years, created a homicidal car tire in Rubber (2010), and even made a pseudo-superhero film about the dangers of smoking. Oh, and he's also DJ Oizo (French for ‘bird’). There are other stories you wouldn’t believe, but we'll stop here. All the buzz about his latest satire is equally justified. It kicked off this year's Cannes Film Festival and features Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, and Vincent Lindon. These are just a few of the well-known French actors who, alongside Dupieux, set out to dismantle cinema conventions and the fourth wall to present a contemporary take on big-screen comedy that's yet to be tried or tested.