Alain Guiraudie, BFI London Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Catherine Frot, drama, Elio Lunetta, Felix Kysyl, film festivals, France, Jean-Baptiste Durand, LGBTQ, movies, New York Film Festival, reviews, Serge Richard, Tatiana Spivakova, Telluride Film Festival
March 21, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Alain Guiraudie
French with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in 2023, in Saint-Martial, France, the dramatic film “Misericordia” features an all-white group of people representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: An unemployed con artist goes back to visit a bakery family whom he used to work for, and he proceeds to cause chaos in their lives.
Culture Audience: “Misericordia” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in twist-filled psychological dramas about con artists and their victims.
“Misericordia” is a spellbinding psychological thriller about how a con artist fools people into thinking he’s harmless but is actually intent on causing havoc in people’s lives. It’s a superbly acted story about manipulation and murder. Some of the subject matter is intended to be unsettling in showing how victims of con artists can continue to dismiss or ignore indications or evidence that they’ve been conned because it’s easier than facing the truth.
Written and directed by Alain Guiraudie, “Misericordia” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. It then made the rounds at several other film festivals in 2024, including the Telluride Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival. “Misericordia” (which takes place in 2023, in the small town of Saint-Martial, France) received seven nominations, including Best Picture, at the 2025 Cesar Awards, the French version of the Oscars.
“Misericordia” (which takes place in 2023) begins by showing Jérémie Pastor (played by Félix Kysyl), a con artist who’s in his 30s, returning to Saint-Martial, after many years spent living somewhere else. He has most recently lived in Toulouse, France. Jérémie used to live in Saint-Martial when he worked for a family-owned bakery. The family’s patriarch Jean-Pierre Rigal (played by Serge Richard, seen in photos and flashbacks), who was the bakery’s manager, has recently died at the age of 62. Jérémie is back in town to attend the funeral.
Jérémie’s presence gets mixed reactions. Jean-Pierre’s widow Martine Rigal (played by Catherine Frot) seems happy to see Jérémie. By contrast, Martine’s son Vincent Rigal (played by Jean-Baptiste Durand), who’s about the same age as Jérémie, isn’t thrilled to see Jérémie and asks him when he’s going back to Toulouse. Jérémie says he’s only visiting for a few days. He ends up staying much longer than that.
Jérémie tells people he is currently unemployed and has no plans on what to do with his life. Martine assumes that Jérémie’s unemployment means that he’s struggling financially, so she generously invites him to stay at her house. She says that Jérémie can sleep in the bedroom that Vincent had when he lived there. Vincent has his own home with his wife Annie Rigal (played by Tatiana Spivakova) and their son Kilian Rigal (played by Elio Lunetta), who’s about 7 or 8 years old.
Vincent is slightly annoyed to see Jérémie sleeping in Vincent’s former bedroom. He’s also suspicious that Jérémie has come back to Saint-Martial to take over the bakery. Now that Jean-Pierre is deceased, Vincent is expected to become the chief manager of the bakery. Jérémie assures Vincent that he has no intentions of working at the bakery again.
In a conversation with Vincent, Jérémie mentions that he recently broke up with a girlfriend whom he had been dating for three years. The movie eventually shows that Jérémie is bisexual, queer or sexually fluid. Jérémie doesn’t put a label on his sexuality. After a while, it’s pretty obvious that he’s sociopath who will have sex with or try to seduce anybody if it’s a way to get what he wants.
And that’s why there’s another reason why Vincent is highly suspicious of Jérémie: He senses that Martine has a weird crush on Jérémie: Martine treats Jérémie like a second son, but she also seems to be sexually attracted to Jérémie. Vincent is concerned that Jérémie will take advantage of widow Martine’s loneliness.
There’s an even more complicated twist to this dynamic, which further explains Vincent’s apprehension and resentment about Jérémie. When Jérémie used to work at the bakery, Jérémie told Jean-Pierre that he was in love with him. It’s unclear if Jean-Pierre did anything sexual with Jérémie, but Jérémie is the type of person who would at least try to sexually seduce someone he wants to target.
Martine and Vincent know about all Jérémie’s “romantic feelings” for Jean-Pierre, which is why Vincent is alarmed that his mother Martine seems so willing to let Jérémie back into their lives, even if it might be for a few days. The tension starts to grow between Jérémie and Vincent when Vincent sees that Martine is treating Jérémie like a son who has permanently come back home to live with the family.
A local elderly priest named Philippe Griseul (played by Jacques Develay) is a friend of the family and frequently stops by the house to visit. Martine lives near a wooded area, where the priest likes to pick mushrooms. One day, Father Griseul is on one of these mushroom-picking walks when he sees Vincent and Jérémie playfully roughhousing in the woods. It’s not a real fight, but there’s some real anger simmering between Vincent and Jérémie.
Another person who affects the dynamics between Jérémie and the Rigal family is Walter Bonchamp (played by David Ayala), a middle-aged bachelor who lives near Martine. Walter is an eccentric loner who doesn’t know Jérémie very well. But when Jérémie sees Walter again, Jérémie pretends that they were good friends during the time that Jérémie worked at the bakery.
The word “misericordia” is a Latin word for having compassion or pity for someone. And that is the reason why Jérémie is a successful con artist. He’s not handsome, nor is he especially charismatic. But he has a “sad sack” way about him that makes people feel sorry for him and want to offer to help him. Vincent can see right through Jérémie, which is one of the reasons why Jérémie and Vincent clash with each other.
As already revealed in the trailer for “Misericordia,” Vincent disappears and is reported missing to the local authorities. Two unnamed police officers (played by Sébastien Faglain and Salomé Lopes) show up and start investigating. Jérémie is the main person of interest because he was the last-known person to see Vincent alive.
Jérémie denies anything to do with Vincent’s disappearance. The cops put Jérémie under surveillance anyway. He becomes paranoid, which starts to affect what he does. About halfway through the “Misericordia,” the movie shows what happened to Vincent, so there’s no real mystery. The only mystery is if whoever is responsible for Vincent’s disappearance will be caught and held accountable.
Kysyl gives a compelling performance as manipulative Jérémie, who is not as “smooth” as he likes to think he is. Although the other cast members give very good performances, “Misericordia” is effective mainly because Kysyl is convincing in his “Misericordia” role as a con artist who pretends to be a “regular, harmless guy” but is actually the opposite. “Misericordia” has an ending that some viewers might dislike, but it’s an ending that is uncomfortably realistic, considering everything that takes place in this memorable story.
Sideshow/Janus Films released “Misericordia” in select U.S. cinemas on March 21, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on March 28, 2025. The movie was released in France on October 16, 2024.