The films of writer-director Alain Guiraudie—who exploded on the international scene with his 2013 feature Stranger by the Lake—take us to a place out of time, roughly reflecting the years of the filmmaker’s coming of age through his maturity without attaching themselves to any particular contemporary period. Set in a rural France whose geological richness is essential to the atmosphere of his work, the class and vocational specificities of Guiraudie’s characters are enhanced by impulsive behaviors indulged in as a means of liberation—a way to rewrite the past and occupy what the filmmaker refers to as “a cinematic territory, not a dream and not reality, that exists somewhere in between the two.”*
The title of Guiraudie’s new film—MISERICORDIA—translates as “mercy,” and was the name given to a knife with a long, thin, armor-piercing blade used to deliver mercy killings to mortally wounded knights. The opening scenes feature the return of Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) to the village of Saint-Martial for the funeral of a baker he was in love with as a youth. The widow Martine (Catherine Frot) offers to put Jérémie up for the night. Martine’s adult son Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), a bit on edge with this return of the not-quite-prodigal son, helps Jérémie make his bed—a scene of obvious connection when the men were boys. Uninterested in Vincent’s clumsy attempts to disinter the past, Jérémie crosses the village to visit and initiate an assignation with Walter (David Ayala), who promptly tosses him out.
A murder takes place and a body is buried in a damp mushroom grove. Police officers, a priest, and a flashing erection make surprise appearances. With its characters’ flat, unaffected speech and rutting desires, MISERICORDIA plays like an exquisite blend of Bresson and Bruce LaBruce, and marks a high point in Guiraudie’s body of work.
See screening info and links below.
MISERICORDIA
Written and directed by Alain Guiraudie
April 27 and 29, and May 2
American Cinematheque
Los Feliz 3
1822 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles
americancinematheque.com/misericordia
April 11, 12, and 13
Nuart
11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Los Angeles
landmarktheatres.com/nuart-theatre
Through April 10
Landmark Sunset
8000 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles
landmarktheatres.com/misericordia
Through April 3
Laemmle Monica Film Center
1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica
The Criterion Channel is also streaming a Guiraudie retrospective. See: criterionchannel.com/the-tantalizing-tales-of-alain-guiraudie
*Isaac Feldberg, “Life Sustained by Desire: Alain Guiraudie on Misericordia,” March, 2025:
rogerebert.com/alain-guiraudie-interview
Alain Guiraudie, Miséricorde / Misericordia (2024), from top: Félix Kysyl (left) and Jean-Baptiste Durand; Catherine Frot; David Ayala and Kysyl; Jacques Develay (right) and Kysyl; Kysyl; Kysyl and Frot.
Images courtesy and © Sideshow and Janus Films.
