Gentle Monster

Lucy (Léa Seydoux, "The French Dispatch," "No Time to Die"), an analytical musician, her husband Philip (Laurence Rupp), a filmmaker, and their young son Johnny (Malo Blanchet) have just moved to the country for a new start, but the Weiss family will be turned upside down when the Munich Police, led by Elsa Kühn (Jella Haase), arrive with a search warrant and leave with Philip's phone, computer and drives and Lucy learns of his online persona as a "Gentle Monster."

Laura's Review: B

Writer/director Marie Kreutzer ("Corsage") has advantageously made her central character a deconstructor of pop songs written by men, Lucy telling an interviewer that she chooses male songwriters as men have difficulty talking about their feelings. Lucy is introduced at her piano breaking down 'Would I Lie to You?,' a foreshadowing of what's to come. She's interrupted by her husband's entrance, Philip hyperventilating against a wall as Lucy comforts him, and although we do not know the reason for his panic attack, it will become clear that Lucy is the stronger partner in this union. The couple appear happy, though, erecting a trampoline in their yard for Johnny and having frequent, passionate sex.

Then the police arrive and Lucy, clearly confused, mostly stands back, Philip asking to borrow her phone to call their lawyer friend Lukas (Nils Strunk), which he does outside, away from her and clearly nervous. Oddly, Lucy doesn't ask what's going on (are men really the only ones who won't talk about their feelings?) but finds out when she arrives at the police station and, given Kühn's office location, presses the second floor elevator button labelled 'Sexual violence against children/Child pornography.' When Kühn notes that Philip has had a run-in with the police before, Lucy explains that it was for selling drugs in a minor capacity years ago, that her husband no longer uses and is taking anti-depressants. 'Your husband is active in group chats that share child pornography, even abuse being committed,' she is told and that he is also under investigation for producing content. Kühn won't give Lucy, who actually is looking to talk to someone, just not anyone too close to her, advice, instead referring her to the department's psychologist.

"Gentle Monster" dives into women's denial of a loved one's wrongdoing, Lucy whiplashing back and forth between taking Johnny and leaving, then believing not only one, but a second explanation for her husband's criminal activity when he admits the first, relayed to her via Lukas, was not true. Kreutzer adds a parallel, secondary storyline for Elsa, who is dealing with her elderly father Hermann's (Sylvester Groth, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.") sexual harassment of his caretaker Natalia (Patrycja Ziółkowska, "The Edge of Heaven"), the impact of Elsa's story not coming into focus until the film's last act, well after Lucy's asked her why she does the work she does. Elsa clearly judges Lucy for her willingness to believe Philip, yet is in denial herself. A second generation of women is represented by Lucy's mother, Eloise (Catherine Deneuve, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," "Dancer in the Dark"), who immediately recoils upon learning about Philip, advising her daughter to throw up as a means of cleansing, and Philip's mother Inge Weiss (Regina Fritsch, "Corsage"), who takes the news with the appropriate gravitas while noting that he is still her son.

Léa Seydoux is thoroughly engrossing in the role, her lusty joy in lovemaking as evident as her later dismay attending Lukas' wedding with Philip, but there is something missing in the center of this film that blunts its impact, Kreutzer's use of a flashback to happier times not filling a void that begins with Lucy's failure to question why police are searching her house. It can't be explained by fear of discovering the truth as Lucy is frustrated by a psychologist's inability to conclude whether Johnny has been abused or not. And if Lucy discovers she really never knew Philip, neither do we. What Kreuzer has done well is her closing shots of both Lucy during a shattering revelation and Elsa telling us something with no words.

Cinematographer Judith Kaufmann ("Corsage," "Late Shift") does some nice work following Seydoux as she rushes after Philip's car and capturing her in concert. Seydoux performs covers of The Cure's 'Boys Don't Cry' and Kreutzer wraps with her voice dueting with Blanchet's to Coldplay's 'Yellow,' a song sung earlier by Philip and Johnny.

Netflix released "Gentle Monster" in theaters on 10/30/26.  It begins streaming on 11/18/26.