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The Second Act

What Critics Say

Le deuxième acte

2024

Quentin Dupieux

Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Raphaël Quenard, Louis Garrel ...

6.3

35

Comedy Florence wants to introduce David, the man she’s madly in love with, to her father Guillaume. But David isn’t attracted to Florence and wants to throw her into the arms of his friend Willy. The four of them meet in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

	Media	Author	Review
		Robbie Collin Telegraph	"Léa Seydoux’s bizarre AI comedy is a very timely Cannes opener (...) Enjoyably surrealist (...) Ingeniously, Dupieux makes the two possibilities impossible to untwist. Here, artists and their art are inseparable (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Peter Debruge Variety	"Dupieux’s strategy seems to be flipping or repeating certain punchlines for fresh effect, which is fine for a while, until you realize that neither 'The Second Act' nor those second-degree readings have much to say"
		Rory O'Connor The Film Stage	"A playfully dour satire on the film industry that sees the French absurdist delve further into apocalyptic mood and gallows humor"
		Ben Croll IndieWire	"With a barely-there narrative even by Dupieux's own standard, 'Le deuxième acte' still wrangles a few winning reveals, building to a most savage punchline"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"Neither the humour nor the commentary is incisive enough to sustain such a strained bauble"
		Jordan Mintzer The Hollywood Reporter	"'Le deuxième acte' is probably [Dupieux's] strongest film yet"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"Perhaps there is nothing much to 'Le deuxième acte', but the soufflé of self-awareness rises tastily enough (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Stephanie Bunbury Deadline	"If the results are always a bit ragged, does it matter? Dupieux may never make a masterpiece, but his slapdash, wild entertainments are irresistible"
		Chase Hutchinson Collider	"The cast are great and the ideas all there, though this attempt at a satire never comes together"
		Patrice Witherspoon Screen Rant	"Despite the talented cast, 'The Second Act' fails to delve deep into important topics, leaving the comedy feeling overstayed (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"

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