17/05/2026 - CANNES 2026: The filmmaker explains her fascination with the genre of politicised body horror, which she explores in a radical way in her debut feature film

(© 2026 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it)

Unveiled in the Midnight Screenings section at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, Species is French director Marion Le Corroller’s first feature film.

Cineuropa: Where did the idea for this film about bodies breaking down come from?
Marion Le Corroller: Before I got into filmmaking, I worked in finance, and after five years I suffered a burnout, during which I experienced physical changes accompanied by a great deal of pain. That’s what inspired the film and made me want to tell this story through the body, but in a way that’s really enjoyable, very funny, and very "catchy". At the same time, the genre allows us to link a fairly accessible and instinctive film to a very political message.

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What about the hospital at the heart of the film? How did you research it?
I did work placements in several A&E departments, where I shadowed doctors for several weeks to really see how they workf and the pressures they face: having to meet targets, seeing as many patients as possible in a day. In today’s world in general, you have to be ultra-efficient, do everything straight away, and it’s never enough: there’s always pressure to do more. Even when you’re making money, you never make enough. This drives people, who feel like interchangeable pawns in places that lack meaning, to become completely unwell.

In terms of style, you really push the boundaries. How far did you want to go?
As it was my first feature film, I thought I could have no limits, that people would be more tolerant of it than if it were my second or third film. The violence of the images, the direction and the editing had to match the violence I was condemning in the film. I preferred it to be "too much", to go over the top, but at least for it to be very radical.

You needed an actress who could use her body effectively. How did you choose and work with Mara Taquin?
Many actresses turned down the role, mainly because of the nudity, but also because the make-up would take hours to apply. According to Mara, the prosthetics attached to her body ultimately helped her enormously to get into character. But she really pushed herself physically.

How did you work with Pierre-Olivier Persin on the make-up?
We really came up with this mutation together. We opened a dermatology book and looked at lots of rare skin conditions together. It was quite gross. I told him which shapes and colours I liked and from there he drew some prototypes. Then we fine-tuned them together to try and create something unique and distinctive. I drew inspiration from certain existing conditions. And then I took a different direction to really create my own condition. But it’s true that, for example, haematidrosis — which is one of the conditions mentioned in the film — actually exists. There are three or four cases worldwide. When I discovered that it was a condition where you sweat blood, I thought it was brilliant and exactly what I needed for my film.

What direction did you want to take with Rob’s music?
I wanted something youthful, electronic, and above all, exciting music to accompany the violent and very gory scenes, so that the horrific moments would be a joy to watch. I wanted the horror scenes to make you want to get up and dance to a super-stimulating beat. This was so that it wouldn’t be taken too seriously, but that there would be humour and a sense of detachment.

Can we really talk about a French body horror movement today?
Absolutely. Filmmakers like Julia Ducournau and Coralie Fargeat are women who are deeply politically engaged in society. And we are fortunate, as women, to live in a country where we can discuss these issues in the public sphere, talk about women’s bodies – something that is not the case in many countries around the world. There is almost a responsibility to offer new perspectives on bodies, particularly on women’s bodies.

How do you reconcile that with the demands of entertainment?
I really wanted to make a film for young people — one that was entertaining and fun, a film that spoke to them, including visually. And I thought to myself that the film had to be a pleasure to watch, it had to be enjoyable, but it also needed to have a political undercurrent.

Will you be sticking to the body horror genre for your next film?
I’ve started writing it, but it’ll be more of a psychological horror, though the focus on the body will still be very much present. I don’t want to limit myself solely to body horror, but what I can say already is that there’ll be plenty of blood.

(Translated from French)