It’s been nearly seven years since Fabrice Du Welz unveiled Vinyan to mixed reception at the Venice Film Festival, but early reviews of Alléluia, which premiered as part of Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight sidebar last year, suggest it is something of a return to form. The film stars Lola Dueñas (Talk ToHer, I’m So Excited!) as Gloria, who meets Michel (Laurent Lucas, who collaborated with Du Welz on his debut Calvaire) online. She discovers that he is a conman, but she’s willing to look past it so long as he always comes back to her…or is she? That’s where the psychological horror aspects kick in.
Writing from Fantastic Fest, where the film cleaned up, our own Bill Graham had this to say in his review: “This is just a bleak, dark, and yet humorous experience that is full of twists and turns that are at times truly heartbreaking. It’s not even necessarily the reality of what takes place on screen, but the way that you know their relationship has real-life counterparts, even if they are less dramatic and cruel. If Fantastic Fest is about discovery and seeing the kind of film not built for every taste, the blood-soaked, sex-fueled thriller that is Alleluia is the perfect fit.”
Watch the trailer below:
Alléluia hits theaters and VOD on July 17th courtesy of Music Box Films.