The Man in the Basement (film)

The Man in the Basement
FrenchL'homme de la cave
Directed byPhilippe Le Guay
Written byMarc Weitzmann
Philippe Le Guay
Gilles Taurand
Produced byAnne-Dominique Toussaint
StarringFrançois Cluzet
Jérémie Renier
Bérénice Bejo
CinematographyGuillaume Deffontaines
Music byBruno Coulais
Release date
  • October 13, 2021 (2021-10-13)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$462.000 [1]

The Man in the Basement (French: L'homme de la cave) is a 2021 French thriller drama film written by Marc Weitzmann, Philippe Le Guay and Gilles Taurand, directed by LeGuay and starring François Cluzet, Jérémie Renier and Bérénice Bejo.[2][3]

Plot

A Jewish couple sell their house to a former history teacher, only to discover he was an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in Paris.[4]

Release

The film was released in New York City on January 27, 2023.[5]

Reception

The film has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews.[6] Calan Panchoo of Film Threat rated the film a 6 out of 10.[3] Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com awarded the film three stars.[7]

Hannah Brown of The Jerusalem Post gave the film a positive review and wrote, "All the actors are good here, among them Renier, who starred in a number of films by the Dardenne brothers(...)But the movie really belongs to Cluzet and the vile character he portrays."[5]

Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times also gave the film a positive review, calling it "a gripping, smart and timely film that’s part thriller, part domestic drama and all cautionary tale."[8]

Beatrice Loayza of The New York Times gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Somewhere in The Man in the Basement there is a smart psychodrama sharpened by political urgency, but what we get is a middling think piece that too quickly loses momentum — and peters out by the end."[2]

References

  1. ^ "The Man in the Basement".
  2. ^ a b Loayza, Beatrice (January 26, 2023). "'The Man in the Basement' Review: The Occupation of Paris". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Panchoo, Calan (February 16, 2023). "The Man in the Basement". Film Threat. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  4. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (January 13, 2021). "Playtime Acquires Philippe Le Guay's Thriller 'The Man From the Basement' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Brown, Hannah (January 28, 2023). "The Man in the Basement: A thriller on Holocaust denial trolls - review". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  6. ^ "The Man in the Basement". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  7. ^ Kenny, Glenn (January 27, 2023). "The Man in the Basement". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  8. ^ Goldstein, Gary (January 27, 2023). "Review: Terrific dramatic thriller 'Man in the Basement' may remind you of people you know". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 11, 2023.