The shooting of a bad art house film turns into a farce in Quentin Dupieux’s absurdist comedy, which opened the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Florence wants to introduce her boyfriend, David, to her father. Meanwhile David is planning to orchestrate a relationship between her and his friend Willy. They all get together at the Second Act Café. The synopsis that festivals published in their press releases is not the subject of Dupieux’s film, but the script that the actors in his film are working with on set. However, during the long shots, when exchanges of dialogue are reminiscent of an exchange of shots or a sport of some kind, it is not clear when Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel, Raphaël Quenard, and Manuel Guillot are playing their characters and when they are the actors playing those characters.
Witty arguments, riddles, storyline twists, and the breaking of the fourth wall are some of Quentin Dupieux’s favorite devices, as is irony, and The Second Act is full of topical jokes about AI, transphobia, harassment, and cancel culture.
The Second Act is Dupieux’s thirteenth feature film, preceded by the 2023 Daaaaaalí! , which reached Russian cinemas only a couple months ago. Dupieux’s productivity does not compromise his inventiveness. On the contrary, brevity (The Second Act is 80 minutes long) makes this absurdist director’s light and charming filmic statements even sharper.
The film will be screened in French with Russian subtitles.
The Second Act
Director: Quentin Dupieux
France, 2024. 80 min. 18+