Year: 2024 

Directed by: Noémie Merlant

Written by: Noémie Merlant and Céline Sciamma

Starring: Noémie Merlant, Souheila Yacoub, Sanda Codreanu, Lucas Bravo, Christophe Montenez, Nadège Beausson-Diagne

By Sarah Manvel

Noémie Merlant cowrote, directed and stars in “The Balconettes,” a horror comedy in which she exposes all of her body, and I mean all of it. None of that exposure is done in a sexual way, but if any other director in the world (even Céline Sciamma, the cowriter) had asked it of her it would have been a source of upset, instead of the surprise it is here. This frankness about the female body is half the point of “The Balconettes.” The other half is women getting mad as hell about male mistreatment and not taking it anymore. The wild swings in tone don’t always work, but its celebration of female friendship and reclamation of the female body as belonging to women, instead of a mere plaything for men, means it’s a total joy.

It’s 110°F/43°C in the shade in Marseilles and everybody is losing their minds from the heat. Cheery camgirl Ruby (Souheila Yacoub, most recently seen as Zendaya’s friend in “Dune 2”), who gets dressed by putting on dramatic makeup and no shirt, is pootling around the flat she shares with the more reserved Nicole (Sanda Codreanu), who’s got a bad case of writer’s block. Nicole’s attention is on the hot guy opposite (Lucas Bravo, smashing his “Emily in Paris” image into dust), and as it’s been a while Ruby encourages her to start flirting. Nicole doesn’t have the nerve, until Élise (Ms Merlant) shows up in hysterics and lightly crashes her car into the guy’s. Ruby rushes out to get his number as we learn Élise has skipped out on an acting job (playing Marilyn Monroe, complete with blonde wig) and ‘borrowed’ the car from her ‘loving’ husband Paul (Christophe Montenez), whose constant calls she has to take otherwise he calls all of her contacts until she picks up. Flirting with the guy opposite is a great distraction for them all, so when he invites them all over for a drink they don’t hesitate. It turns out he’s a fashion photographer so Ruby asks if she could work with him, and as Élise is not feeling well Nicole takes her back to the flat. But a little later Ruby comes home catatonic and covered in blood, and the worst week of everybody’s lives begins.

The girls have the combined problem of what to do about the guy opposite as well as their own individual stuff: Élise realises why she’s not well, Ruby’s low mood means her online work vanishes and Nicole is suddenly, literally, and unpleasantly haunted. The decision to focus primarily on Nicole’s reaction to the aftermath is a little distancing, but otherwise the horror might have been a bit too bleak. This also centers the friendship between the three women, as Élise and Nicole don’t need what happened spelled out, and put themselves on the line on Ruby’s behalf without the slightest hesitation. There’s regrettably little feminine solidarity extended to their older black neighbour Denise (Nadège Beausson-Diagne) though, whose thwarted attempts to kill her abusive husband as the movie begins set the gory tone. The violence is generally funny – though the subplot about one part of the guy opposite is so ludicrous it’s not – because there are very clearly some personal scores being settled here, and the revenge being served up here tastes delicious. Ms Merlant delivers some of Élise’s lines with such venom they practically spit through the screen, too. 

The trouble is some of the week’s problems are more immediately awful than others, and splitting the plotlines so thoroughly keeps the mood from building to the righteous and charming ending as effectively as it might. But the overall mood of “The Balconettes” is of feminine solidarity, however imperfect, done with a panache that really can only be described as ‘French.’ Well, so can the rampant nudity, which is not gratuitous, but a reclamation of how women ought to be able to move through the world. It’s a lot for one movie to carry, but it’s only Ms Merlant’s second feature. Her next one is going to be even better.