It may. be a bit reductive to describe The Origin of Evil as a gender-swapped Talented Mr. Ripley, but I mean it as a compliment. A young (and poor) queer person inserts themselves into a rich family, insinuating themselves into this new life, and as the plan spirals out of control, becomes willing to do whatever it takes to maintain the charade. There is even a bit of psychopathic behavior. While this film may not quite be the masterpiece I am comparing it to it remains a deliciously gripping tale of intrigue and class analysis where everyone is in it for their own reasons and there is no one to trust.
Laure Calamy is just riveting as our protagonist who is both sympathetic and repulsive, relatable and indefensible. She plays it rather subtly at first and the film doesn't give up the plot too quickly. Both her performance and the script lay little breadcrumbs for us to follow making its story even more satisfying than it might be if it had been all laid out more simply in the beginning.
The film starts to veer of course, perhaps in the absurdist way Triangle of Sadness does (a film that most people like a lot more than I do), but not to the same extent. I was able to forgive some of its grander swings because there weren't so over the top but I do wonder what the film could have been by sticking it a little closer to reality.
But I like that L'Origine du mal had the guts to just go where it went and end the way it did. It will leave you feeling both gleefully entertained and a little but sad, and that in itself makes it a darling film to watch.
L'Origine du mal
Starring: Laure Calmy, Jacques Weber, Suzanne Clément
Writer/Director: Sébastien Marnier
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