Review: Gentle Monster
by Marta Bałaga
- CANNES 2026: Marie Kreutzer exorcises her own demons in a drama that asks some very, very uncomfortable questions
Marie Kreutzer arrives in the Cannes Competition – finally – with the scariest film shown here so far. Gentle Monster asks a very simple question: can you ever truly know another person? Should you trust them? We all know the answer, and it’s not a pleasant one.
Lucy (Léa Seydoux) is forced to think about it when the police arrive one morning to arrest her Austrian husband (Laurence Rupp). He’s been having some difficult years and has been experiencing severe burnout, but that’s not the reason. They confiscate his computer and phone, and soon, an explanation is given: child pornography. Lucy is stunned – they have a child together. She flees the house they’ve just bought, and the lies begin. Lies about a documentary that her husband Philip was supposedly making, about his “practical” reasons for joining those online forums. She’s not listening, and then she is, because the alternative is just too awful.
The film, which is already very compelling, is such a brave, terrifying move for Kreutzer, who previously had to watch as the legacy of her (arguably best) film, Corsage, was ruined by a shocking scandal. Its actor was charged with possession of child pornography. Some would rather leave it all behind; she’s taking a closer look. It’s almost uncomfortable to think about, but it also makes sense. After all, artists are supposed to address what makes everyone else squirm. One wonders if that’s why she made Lucy an artist, too: a pianist who deconstructs love songs sung by men. Just like, and the metaphor is heavy here, “Would I Lie to You?”.
While her subject matter is as heavy as it gets, Kreutzer’s film is literally full of light. The garden is blooming; the sun is shining. This international family is ready for a fresh start, and to build a trampoline for their son. But that’s even more unnerving somehow – these crimes are not confined to the underground. “Our happy family,” says one police officer, looking at a drawing made by a child abused by her own father as they make another arrest. “They are such nice people,” adds a headmistress. They always are. Then they upload images of their own child online.
It’s hard to talk about the unimaginable, but Kreutzer does a fine job. She relies on a dynamic pace and dynamic protagonists, with Seydoux joined by Jella Haase as a cop who has seen it all, and yet this is the only job that “makes sense”. She’s relentless, yet she ignores her father’s behaviour towards a nurse for as long as she can. They are both so different, but they are both more than familiar with denial.
Kreutzer never buries the audience in explicit scenes, but she offers no way out. Lucy looks back on their happiest moments – they shared quite a few – and suspicions mount. Their future is gone, it seems, and their past is probably tainted. That’s one of the biggest parts of her ordeal: the uncertainty. Even though she probably knows the answer, and it’s not a pleasant one.
Gentle Monster was produced by Film AG Produktions (Austria), Komplizen Film (Germany) and Kazak Productions (France). It’s sold by mk2 Films.
Photogallery 15/05/2026: Cannes 2026 - Gentle Monster
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© 2026 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it
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