Variety
It’s a nice alternative to the griminess of Dumont’s previous regional portraits, even if he has yet to perfect this loony new tone.
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Slack Bay
Fabrice Luchini, Juliette Binoche and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi lead this bizarre Palme d'Or-nominated comedy from writer-director Bruno Dupont.
"Summer 1910, Slack Bay in the North of France. Mysterious disappearances have thrown the region into turmoil. The improbable Inspector Machin (Didier Després) and his shrewd assistant Malfoy (Cyril Rigaux) carry out an investigation. Through no fault of their own, they find themselves at the centre of a strange and all-consuming love story between Ma Loute (Brandon Lavieville), the eldest son of a local family of fishermen with rather particular habits, and Billie Van Peteghem (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), the youngest daughter of a wealthy, decadent bourgeois family from Lille. The romance brings the two families together in an explosive collision and things are not as they appear…" (Alliance Française French Film Festival)
Less2016Rating: M, Mature themes and nudity122 minsGermany, FranceFrench and English with English subtitles
Comedy
- Director:
- Bruno Dumont ('The Life of Jesus', 'Humanité', 'Camille Claude 1915')
- Writer:
- Bruno Dumont
- Cast:
- Fabrice LuchiniJuliette BinocheValeria Bruni TedeschiJean-Luc VincentBrandon LavievilleLaura DupréDidier DesprésCyril Rigaux
Slack Bay | Reviews
65%82 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Total Film
French acting royalty including Juliette Binoche gamely play up, but the theatrics are an acquired taste.
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Time Out
French filmmaker Bruno Dumont mixes grotesque class comedy with far-out human behaviour in this bizarre coastal farce.
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The Telegraph
...Dumont is trying too hard to get these big laughs, and he’s trying for too many. Comedy’s his new toy – he needs to be careful not to break it.
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The Guardian
Bruno Dumont, the former high priest of French seriousness, has successfully shifted to slapstick and pratfalls in this crime comedy set during the Belle Époque.
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Hollywood Reporter
More weirdly fascinating than genuinely good, this beautifully made, bracingly eccentric and often arch film will generate a measure of strong support but will bewilder more than entrance most traditional art-house regulars.
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Empire Magazine
With its bestial themes, conceptual humour and cartoonish thespians, this consciously arch farce will intrigue some and infuriate others.
Full reviewSlack Bay | Release Details
Slack Bay is available to stream in Australia now on Google Play and Apple TV and SBS On Demand.