The Grand Illusion

With her first film in a decade, the fearless 75-year-old French auteur, Catherine Breillat, proves she’s as provocative as ever with her Cannes-stirring film, which drives down the dark road of uncontrollable passion. A remarkably nuanced, radiant Léa Drucker plays Anne, an attorney who has plateaued in her marriage to Pierre (Olivier Rabourdin), a distracted businessman. His son, troubled seventeen-year-old Theo (Samuel Kircher), from a previous marriage, has recently returned to Pierre’s ineffectual and despondent care. When Pierre leaves town for a business trip, Anne and Théo — confined under the same roof for the first time — find themselves in the throes of an unexpected and dangerously lustful affair, threatening the stability of the household. Music by Kim Gordon heightens the erotic tension of LAST SUMMER, a film that boldly surveys power dynamics, female desire, and fulfillment.

Part of our series, Un Bouquet de Breillat.

In French with English subtitles.

CRITIC’S PICK! “Last Summer is complex, tricky, at times very uncomfortable and thoroughly engrossing.” Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“A family drama as masterfully propulsive as a horror movie.” Alison Willmore, Vulture

“Last Summer is my favorite of Breillat’s movies to date, because its allegiance to aesthetics collides with its story in a way that feels bracingly confrontational and unrepentant.” Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic