Gentle Monster looks like it could be one of Netflix's most affecting films ever, with Léa Seydoux on top form
This might not be one to watch without a bit of prep
Every so often, one of the biggest and best streaming services will drop a trailer that makes me stand up and pay a little more attention than usual. Sometimes that's because it's managed to reel in an even bigger star than the norm, and sometimes it's because the film's been showered in awards on the festival circuit. Gentle Monster is another type entirely.
While it was shown as part of the competition at both the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals, it didn't come away with any major prizes – but the first trailer for the movie is out now on YouTube, and makes it look pretty phenomenal. It's coming to Netflix on 18 November, after a couple of weeks in cinemas starting on 30 October.
The film stars Léa Seydoux as a young mother whose world is absolutely rocked when the police turn up at her house one day to take custody of her partner and to search his belongings. While the trailer is understandably vague about exactly what they're looking for, it's not hard to draw some conclusions about the matter, and it's easy to see how it would make for a compelling drama.
As Seydoux's character attempts to process what's happening, it looks like much of the film will concern itself with how a relationship changes and is strained by a betrayal like this. As she says to her mother at one point in the trailer, it's not like a long-term love has an off switch that you can flick when it's no longer convenient to have deep feelings for someone.
While she tries to figure out where her life goes from here, there's apparently another subplot that's not featured in the trailer to the same degree, since this is just a teaser. The lead investigator in the case turns out to have her own dramas unfolding, reckoning with the trauma of caring for her elderly father as his dementia advances.
It's all extremely emotional-sounding, and the teaser makes the movie look really considered and careful, so I'll be fascinated to see how it's received when it arrives later this year. Netflix generally only puts safe bets into cinemas, so that alone suggests it thinks it could have a critical darling on its hands.
