The acclaimed Kreutzer, beloved by audiences as the auteur of the rebel manifesto Corsage (2022) about Empress Sisi, has shaken Cannes with a sharp anatomy of sexual predators, in which Léa Seydoux delivers a stellar performance. Cutting slowly and precisely, the author cuts right to the core: do we truly know those closest to us, and can we protect our loved ones from those we don’t know?

She is a bold pioneer in deconstructing pop music in sold-out concerts; he is a burned-out director trying to regain his footing in television programming. Determined to hold her family together, Lucy moves to the countryside with her husband Philip and their nine-year-old son, hoping to turn a new page in their married life. Lucy’s mother, the legendary pianist, scoffs at the idea of rural family life, calling it the worst career move a woman could make. One morning, the police show up and confiscate all their smart devices and computers. In an instant, the protective curtain over Lucy’s perception of reality collapses: how could she have lived with someone for years without truly knowing him?

Austrian director Kreutzer turned her attention to the circulation of child pornography when her 2022 film Corsage came out. Florian Teichmeister, one of the lead actors in the film, was charged with possession of child pornography after more than 76,000 illegal items were found on his devices. Several years later, the screenplay took shape and Kreutzer returned to the subject with a gripping procedural thriller. Shifting between the perspectives of the “unknowing” and the “knowing”, she challenges the audience to confront male sexual violence through the eyes of those closest to the perpetrators — particularly the women who live with them. Blood-curdling, dizzying, and precise — such is Kreutzer’s drama, which premiered in the main competition at Cannes. The film offers standout performances from French icons Seydoux and Catherine Deneuve, as well as acclaimed actors Jella Haase and Laurence Rupp.