By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Misericordia (France, 2024. Dir: Alain Guiraudie): As America continues going through something and their movies reflect it, it’s a good time to remember there’s provocative and nuanced cinema to be found, if you know where to look.

Fresh from competing in eight categories at the César Awards (and winning none), the intriguing thriller Misericordia arrives in North American cinemas. Directed by Alain Guiraudie, who has an uncanny ability to incorporate queer subjects into genre films, Misericordia is Kafkaesque in the same way Stranger by the Lake is Hitchcockian.

The film revolves around Jérémie (Felix Kysyl), a young man visiting his hometown following the death of his former boss, the local baker. His arrival is welcomed by the widow (Catherine Frot, Marguerite), but no one else. Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), the baker’s son, is suspicious of Jérémie’s motives and his hostility grows the longer the outsider stays.

The movie strongly hints at a romantic entaglement between Jérémie and the deceased, the likely root of Vincent’s mistrust (the widow is surprisingly cool about it), but that's just the starting point. The tension between Jérémie and Vincent soon leads to bloodshed, but if you think you have the character-types figured out, think again.

Writer/director Guiraudie’s refusal to provide clear answers can be maddening, but adds to the increasingly surreal atmosphere. Characters act ilogically (like humans often do) and seem inescapably tied to one another and their two-horse town, even though it’s obvious they’d be better off elsewhere. Expect some nudity, whether you like it or not. 3 stars (out of five).

Misericordia is now playing in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Sudbury, and St. Catharines.