There’s a sweet centre beneath the glossy, hard-candy exterior of French film-maker Yann Gonzalez’s second feature. Set at the tail end of the 70s in the seedy backstreets of Paris, this slick, bloody murder mystery follows a series of brutal killings by an enigmatic figure with a leather gimp mask and a deadly dildo. The victims are gay porn stars working with a production company owned by Anne Parèze (Vanessa Paradis in a trashy blond wig). “A madman is clearly after us; where is our protection?” demands a boozy Anne, but the police are nonplussed. A person who “gets off on killing fags” is considered a low priority; Gonzalez cleverly conceals a story about real exploitation within the form of the exploitation film.
Heartbroken and pining for her ex-girlfriend, Anne channels her restless energy into making a film inspired by the recent killings. Art begins to imitate life, before life begins mocking the art. Variously gorgeous, ethereal, artful and tacky, both Anne’s film and Gonzalez’s are sustained by a throbbing sexual energy, aided by French electronic act M83’s twinkling, club‑inspired score.
