Le jeu (2018)

Directed by: Fred Cavayé | 94 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Bérénice Bejo, Suzanne Clément, Stéphane De Groodt, Vincent Elbaz, Grégory Gadebois, Doria Tillier, Roschdy Zem, Fleur Fitoussi, Tassadit Mandi, Méline Ouamar, Sabri Ouamar, Cosette Briand, Gabriel Briand, Dorothée Tavernier, Alain Berlio Grossi Eric de Montalier, Pierre Benoist, Caroline Nolot, Jessica Blue, Alan Maxson, Veronica Scheyving

‘Le jeu’ is the French remake of the Italian ‘Perfetti sconosciuti’, a film that was shown in Dutch cinemas at the end of 2016. The premise of that film turned out to be so interesting and the execution so easy to copy that there are now Greek, Spanish, Turkish, Mexican, Hungarian, Chinese, Russian and Korean remakes. Wondering if anyone has seen all the variants…

The story revolves around a bunch of friends in their forties or fifties. A wealthy married couple has invited the friends, who have known each other for years, to dinner. Then the conversation suddenly turns to the use of your mobile phone and especially the trust that lovers have in each other. One of those present suggested that as a joke or game, all mobile phones should be put on the table and, because no one has any secrets from each other, to read or answer all incoming calls, text messages, apps, messages on social media, et cetera. Initially, one half of those present naturally object, which immediately causes suspicion in the other half. But as a viewer you already know that the cards have been dealt: the game is being played.

What follows can be guessed. Of course, things come to light that the owner of the phone in question would rather not have talked about. After the first revelations, the tension in the film drops a bit, because you just know that even more secrets will be revealed. It’s like a house of cards with a new floor being built every time, and you just have to wait for it to collapse.

Is that bad? No not at all. The actors make the spectacle, which sometimes feels oppressive due to the limitation of space, more than worthwhile. For those who don’t know the original, the screenplay certainly has some surprises in store. Well, and who has already seen the Italian film, is it still necessary to watch this French, very faithful, variant? Quite a shame about your time, or you have to do it because of wanting to see everything from a certain actor (or director Fred Cavayé of course). The actors are fine and the movie is very entertaining. What a pity about the ending, that seems to want to smooth out all the wrinkles again and seems to be purely made to send the audience home with a feel-good feeling.