Here is a selection of fictions not to be missed among the novelties on the online video platforms.
On the program, a dark thriller in rural America, a horror series inspired by a film masterpiece, a peplum parody ...
"The Devil, all the time": the family, this hell
NETFLIX.
Willard, from a very poor and very pious family in West Virginia, a rural and conservative American state, returns traumatized from the front lines after the end of World War II.
In the years that followed, he and his son crossed paths with various protagonists who, although guided by religion, were far from commendable… Originally, “Le Diable, tout le temps” was a written book. by a certain Donald Ray Pollock, who, after a life as a worker in a pulp mill, became a writer at the age of 54.
In it he describes what he knows, the America of the little people, living in small communities with obligatory presence on Sundays in church or in the temple.
A setting well rendered by the director Antonio Campos, known for some rather arthouse films.
He directs in this excellent noir drama de chez noir filmed for Netflix nothing less than Tom Holland (the last "Spider-Man" to date), Mia Wasikowska ("Alice in Wonderland"), or Robert Pattinson ("Twilight") , once again against the job and whose role resonates tragically with the news.
But also the Swedish actor Bill Skarsgard, whose juvenile facies is again, after “That”, exploited to cause concern, even more.
EDITOR'S RATING: 4/5
“The Devil, All the Time”
, an American thriller by Antonio Campos, with Bill Skarsgard, Tom Holland, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson… 2h18.
"Ratched": the lair of madness
NETFLIX.
Centered on the character of Miss Ratched, the sadistic nurse from Miloš Forman's film "Flight Over a Cuckoo's Nest", "Ratched" pushes the bottle of vice and abuse much further.
From the first episode of the series, we witness the massacre of half a dozen priests on a rainy night.
Distressing sounds, flowing hemoglobin, bestial killer ... Not only do we jump a lot, but the most sensitive will hide their eyes.
And that's just the start of the fun.
In this story, which begins in 1947, Miss Ratched works as a nurse in St. Lucia Psychiatric Hospital, California.
There, with her boss, the ambiguous Dr Hanover, she subjects the patients to very cruel treatments: incisions, lobotomies, trepanations and even the introduction, with hammer blows, of an ice pick into the eye.
An extravagant violence in a particularly neat image, as if to make the perversity of the characters even more disturbing.
EDITOR'S RATING: 3.5 / 5
“Ratched”
, American series by Evan Romansky and Ryan Murphy, with Sarah Paulson, Cynthia Nixon, Judy Davis, Sharon Stone… Season 1, eight episodes of 45 to 62 minutes.
"Brutus Vs Caesar": the good, the bad and the tyrant
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO.
Denied by his father emperor, César (Ramzy), and skillfully manipulated by two conspiratorial senators (Gérard Darmon and Thierry Lhermitte), the naive, candid and benevolent Brutus (Kheiron) decides to assassinate his father, a pitiful and failed attempt , like his life… For his third film, Kheiron greedily parodies the peplum.
With "Brutus Vs César", the comedian signs a comedy in costumes with a rich and diverse cast, playing without complex the card of diversity and parity.
Cradled in romance and fights - well regulated, the few action scenes do not lend themselves to laughter -, sprinkled with a few anachronisms - emirs come to buy the arenas, football, the pot for the bride and groom -, punctuated by dialogues playing on a humor of rupture, often shifted, of some popular references, of softness and tolerance too, this “Brutus Vs César” does not lack either charm or interest.
Maybe a little bit of breath and madness to completely excite.
EDITOR'S RATING: 3/5
“Brutus Vs César”
, French comedy by and with Kheiron, also starring Ramzy Bedia, Pierre Richard, Gérard Darmon, Thierry Lhermitte… 1h30.
"Gims": a black belt documentary
NETFLIX.
This is Netflix's third project for French rap fans.
"Gims", a one-and-a-half-hour documentary with a polished image, close to the clips, follows the rapper for almost two years before he fills the Stade de France.
The self-congratulation of Gims (who, ironically, no longer wants to be called "Master") is the common thread of this film.
All his relatives, his wife Demdem, his brother Dadju or his friends like H Magnum, Orelsan and Omar Sy recall how much his records are snapped up (more than 5 million since the start of his career), how much he is a genius of music, he who is the most broadcast artist on radio in France.
The story of a kid who fled poverty, sleeping in the street, and who now travels in a private jet… The trajectory, already known and in particular told in a biography, has the air of a modern fairy tale.
Yet even absolute fans of the artist will learn little or little about him, such as when it comes to religion or when the documentary talks about his father.
EDITOR'S RATING: 3/5
“Gims”
, French documentary by Florent Bodin, 1h30.
"The Third Day": the mysterious island
OCS.
Sam, a London entrepreneur at wit's end after being robbed of a large sum of cash, saves a teenage girl from suicide.
He accompanies her home, on Osea, a small island connected to the rest of the land by a road that is passable at low tide.
And quickly finds himself stuck there ... "The Third Day" explores in its own way a theme that has been explored many times in the cinema ("The Wicker Man", "Midsommar") or in series ("Wayward Pines"): that of the intruder which arrives in a tight-knit and isolated community, by necessity or voluntarily, and which will either integrate itself, or start the revolution, or end badly ... The British series spares no effort to distinguish itself, via a cottony atmosphere, even ethereal, and effects on sound or light.
But also by working on form.
The first three episodes, which form a first part entitled "Summer", revolve around Sam, played by Jude Law, perfect in his forties who sees his world collapsing.
The third part, “Winter”, if it takes place on the same island, will have, on the other hand, a heroine at the center of its plot, and will also include three episodes.
But in between, the producers are planning a second part, "Autumn", particularly unusual: a single segment, but 12 hours long, and broadcast live in its country of origin on Saturday, October 3!
EDITOR'S RATING: 3/5
“The Third Day”
, British mini-series by Dennis Kelly and Felix Barrett, with Jude Law, Naomi Harris, Katherine Waterston… Season 1, six episodes of about fifty minutes, and one of 12 hours.