SYNOPSIS

Dir. by Sebastien Marnier | 2022 | France | 125 Mins | MA15+

“Fans of Succession, The White Lotus and Knives Out should definitely check out this twisty-turny French thriller.” ★★★★ STUFF NZ

In this wickedly funny French thriller, shady relatives scheme for family fortunes through a succession of ingenious twists.
Stéphane’s volatile lover is halfway through her prison sentence while she’s stuck working in a fish cannery. One day Stéphane boldly decides to reach out to her wealthy, estranged father. Stéphane discovers the dysfunctional family around her father to be a vipers’ nest, all angling for the old man’s inheritance and suspicious of the new interloper. Soon enough, she finds herself embroiled in devious hidden agendas during a ruthless fight for the family empire in a luxury seaside French villa.
Who’s the predator and who’s the prey?

QUOTES

Fans of Succession, The White Lotus and Knives Out should definitely check out this twisty-turny French thriller.
-Stuff Magazine-

Family fortunes and squabbling relatives form a sturdy foundation for a twisty, sometimes florid thriller in The Origin Of Evil. The third feature from Sebastien Marnier, feels like an homage to Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley, featuring a slippery central character adept at deception and reinvention.
-Screen International-

[Director] Marnier channels the spirit of Claude Chabrol’s withering knock-downs of the bourgeoisie, layered with the plot curves of a Hitchcockian riddle.
-Film-Forward.com-

Propelled by revelations, twists and a seasoning of sly humour.. It quickly becomes apparent that nothing is quite as it seems in this jaunty romp.
-Screen International-

[Sebastien] Marnier’s film manages to be cruelly funny, while evoking the spirit of that master of the French thriller Claude Chabrol, with hints of Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell. It offered a touch of class as a first-day festival highlight [Venice Film Fest].
-The Observer | Venice Film Festival-