“Between you and me, it’s myself that I love through you […]. Tell yourselves that without me, you’re nothing at all.” The lyrics of the 1981 Jean Schultheis song "Confidence pour confidence" to which the two ambiguous heroines of All About Corinne, the new film by Marc Fitoussi, dance neatly sum up the dynamics of the uneasy relationship that develops between a star and an extra. Unveiled on the Piazza Grande as the closing film of the 79th Locarno Film Festival, the movie will also open the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival before screening as a Gala Presentation at Toronto. The French director methodically explores this relationship in a tenderly sarcastic comedy about the film world. It is a less cruel mirror than the unsurpassable touchstone of the genre, Joseph L Mankiewicz’s All About Eve (1950), but it is nonetheless sharp and perceptive, offering two wonderful roles to its excellent leads, Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain.

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“You might want to ask yourself how you’re still in the same place at your age.” Having haunted film sets for as long as she can remember, professional extra Corinne Maclou (Huppert) has still not given up hope of achieving a different status (“Will we see you? Hear you speak?” her disillusioned father asks). She hands out her CV left, right and centre, and tries to ingratiate herself with leading actresses (“I think we look a little bit alike”), all the while enduring humiliations (“You’re not in the scene any more”, “Whether you’re there or not doesn’t make much difference”, “That’s not the right way to go about it; it’s intrusive, oppressive and pointless”) and constantly being pushed back into the strictly circumscribed world of extras, with its canteens, waiting rooms, hotels and so on.

But the barriers begin to open up when star Sandrine Kiberlain, who is plagued by doubts over her unshifting public image (“Your very chic, Saint-Germain-des-Prés style… Cotillard is less detached from reality than you are,” her agent points out), crosses paths with Corinne and, following a few friction-filled encounters, begins listening to her advice. A friendship of sorts develops, one that Corinne dreams of turning to her professional advantage. But there is many a slip between the cup and the lip…

Written by the director, the screenplay offers a caustic and comic glimpse into the everyday lives of celebrities – encompassing narcissism, jealousy, hypocrisy, a carefully concealed awareness of their power within the hierarchy of the film world, and privileges such as business class and private sales – while also highlighting how difficult it can be for them to remain connected to reality and to forge sincere relationships with admirers whose motives are often far from disinterested.

These are the inner workings of the film industry that the movie pokes fun at – and that it uses to entertain the viewer – without ever crossing the line into outright nastiness, helped along by performers who are willing to play with their own image, and with caricatures of that image. Kiberlain leads the way, joined by, among others, Anne Marivin, Diane Kruger, Emmanuelle Bercot, Ana Girardot and Vincent Dedienne. And, of course, there is queen Isabelle Huppert, enjoying the luxury of playing an unknown, someone overlooked by the spotlight, a passionate schemer at the centre of a chronicle of hope: the hope of becoming a name.

All About Corinne was produced by Avenue B Productions, and co-produced by Beside Productions, Égérie Productions, Les Films du Camélia, France 3 Cinéma, Proximus, RTBF, Be TV & Orange, VOO and OBE. Indie Sales is handling international sales, while Memento will release the film in France on 7 October.