Despite the Night header

The first trailer for Philippe Grandrieux’s Despite The Night (Malgré la nuit) has arrived and, despite no English subtitles, makes its tone and narrative trappings abundantly clear. Over an eerie, moaning score are explicit and violent images spliced together to create a dark vignette of eroticism and menace that the film seems to consist of.

Some Denis-esque cinematography and compositions combined with some chilling static frames suggest an intimate, disturbing journey through Paris at night. Starring Ariane Labed, recently seen in The Lobster and who will be in Assassin’s Creed this fall, see the NSFW trailer below, with a thanks to Keyframe Daily.

English musician Lenz searches for his lover Madeleine, who has mysteriously disappeared, but tumbles into an amour fou with troubled, self-destructive Héléne. Grieving the loss of her infant son, Héléne seeks oblivion in the murky subterranean world of a brutal sex ring, followed by Lenz. A stark, elliptical, hauntingly spectral narrative with scenes of sensual abandon and raw carnality.

Despite the Night poster

Despite the Night opens in France on July 6th.

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