What if a beloved family member turned out to be a child sex offender? Director Marie Kreutzer’s chilling question not only exposes an ugly facet of reality but also warns that monsters wearing ordinary faces linger within our everyday lives. Pianist Lucy (Lea Seydoux) moves to the suburbs with her son for the sake of her husband, who has been struggling with burnout. Their peaceful life lasts only briefly before police raid their home and seize Philip’s computer. Under investigation on charges including possession of child sexual abuse material, Philip does not deny the allegations but offers one excuse after another. Confronting her husband’s sex crimes, Lucy experiences the collapse of the world she once trusted. The film anchors itself in the perspective of ‘the family as another victim,’ gazing steadily at the ethical ruins left behind where trust has been destroyed. Furthermore, the director adds a parallel storyline involving Elsa, the investigator handling the case, who turns a blind eye to her own father’s sexual misconduct, sharpening her critique of humanity’s contradictory attitudes. Evil subtly slips into the ordinary fabric of everyday life.
Marie Kreutzer was born in Graz, Austria in 1977 and studied screenwriting and dramaturgy at the Film Academy Vienna. Her feature debut, The Fatherless (2011), had its world premiere at the Berlinale and received a Special Mention for the Best First Feature Award, while her third feature, The Ground Beneath My Feet (2019), was invited to the main competition at Berlin once again. Corsage (2022), starring Vicky Krieps, had its world premiere in Cannes Un Certain Regard, winning Krieps the Best Performance award, and went on to screen at over 70 festivals worldwide, marking a new career peak with a European Film Award win and a shortlist placement for the Academy Award for Best International Feature. Her latest film, Gentle Monster, inspired by a real-life child sex abuse ring case and starring Léa Seydoux and Catherine Deneuve, made it into the main competition at Cannes.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
