CLOSING NIGHT
THE LIGHTER SIDE
US PREMIERE

Fantasies

Les fantasmes

DAVID FOENKINOS, STÉPHANE FOENKINOS
France, 2021
102 minutes, Color

Crafted as an episodic, light-hearted look at people's often hidden desires, Fantasies plays out in six amusing chapters. The film offers revealing and clever takes, finding both the humor and humanity that goes on usually, but not always, behind closed doors. In the first episode, Louise (Suzanne Clément) tries to spice up her marriage by getting her husband, Vincent (Denis Podalydès, seen also in The World of Yesterday), into some frisky role-playing scenarios. Unfortunately, Vincent takes his parts as seriously as a method actor and, once in costume as a doctor or policeman, sticks a bit too closely to the petty details of the job. The glamorous Monica Bellucci and Carole Bouquet play a couple who can only find satisfaction in the oddest places. That their demand for ecstasy causes them to give death a helping hand is maybe not as extreme as it seems. Finally, a strict and demanding schoolteacher (Karin Viard) goes along with her husband's (Jean-Paul Rouve) wish to videotape their encounters. When one of the tapes goes viral, the couple discovers an exciting new world they never imagined.—Dave Nuttycombe

In French with English subtitles

1st screening at 3:00 PM, followed by a reception
2nd screening at 7:30 PM, preceded by a reception at 6:30 PM