10/03/2025 - French director Fabienne Godet turns a delicate hand to popular comedy in a film where Salif Cissé dazzles and astonishes

The 40th Love International Film Festival Mons has selected, for its competition section, the sixth feature film by French director Fabienne Godet, to whom we’re notably indebted for Burnt Out [+see also:
trailer
film profile], A Place on Earth [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Our Wonderful Lives [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabienne Godet
film profile]. Previously presented in a world premiere within the L’Alpe d’Huez Comedy Film Festival, Guess Who Is Calling tells the story of an elderly writer in search of the shadows and a young imitator in search of the light.

Baptiste (Salif Cissé) would like to make a living from his art, but he actually sells insurance over the phone while waiting for success to come knocking. Pierre (Denis Podalydès) would like to live for his art, but the many demands weighing down upon him make this dream impossible. One day, however, Pierre has an idea: he suggests Baptiste should become his voice double. He’s looking to hand over his phone to Baptiste so that the latter can manage all of his calls, both personal and professional, allowing him to focus on writing his next novel without being distracted by life. It goes without saying that Baptiste will do more than just respond and interpret: he’ll invent and reinterpret. Like some sort of kindly spirit, he tries, though his particular mindset and outside perspective, to sort out Pierre’s life for him, which leads to its own maelstrom of misunderstandings with his lovers, his father and his daughter. Amidst a love triangle, romantic banter and filial conflict, Baptiste’s management soon turns into mismanagement but, ultimately, perhaps for the better.

At first glance, Guess Who Is Calling seems to be based on a wholly implausible premise, but it only takes one scene led by Salif Cissé (discovered in the brilliant All Hands on Deck [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillaume Brac
film profile]) – in which he tries to copy the writer’s voice - for us to suspend all manner of disbelief, as happens with any good fiction film. He’s extraordinary, both in his imitations and in his subtle portrayal of a kind of masculinity which embraces its vulnerabilities. A special sort of intimacy subsequently develops between the two men, a kind of circumstantial fusion, which takes the time it needs to morph into friendship. The film is indisputably a comedy, but it nonetheless flirts with a range of genres, from buddy movie through to romcom, gleefully playing with the idea of false identity and doubles to create dramatic tension and comical situations. The film also questions our dependency on others via our mobile phones and our need to be constantly contacted, for once not from the angle of young people being addicted to social media but from the simple premise of an older man and his phone. How in this age of hyper-connectedness can we connect with ourselves, or even be alone with ourselves, so as to be able to think and reflect?

Through the film’s solid writing, a host of satellite characters revolving around the Baptiste-Pierre duo really come to life. There’s Pierre’s mistress (Aure Atika), who far from feeling betrayed, simply learns to see him differently; his artist daughter (Clara Bretheau) who finds her art and an unexpected muse in Baptiste; and the young man’s dresser friend (Manon Clavel) whose precious friendship serves as a refuge and compass for him. Ultimately, Guess Who Is Calling is a genuine feel-good movie with its share of beautiful rather than good feelings; a story about friendship, creativity, love and loyalty.

Guess Who Is Calling was produced by Le Bureau in league with France 3 Cinéma. The Bureau Sales are steering international sales, with Tandem Films set to release the film in France on 4 June and O’Brother Distribution in Belgium.

(Translated from French)