One week after a presidential election, France urgently needs a new Prime Minister. A hapless but ambitious young parliamentary assistant has a plan: convince his retired politician father to return from exile and seize the top job. What follows is a breakneck political comedy that opens with a clandestine ortolan feast and accelerates into a razor-sharp portrait of power, ambition, and the flexibility of principle.
With THE SON OF, former political journalist Carlos Abascal Peiró makes an audacious debut, dynamically navigating the treacherous corridors of the French Republic, his camera stalking the backrooms where ideology evaporates and egos dominate, capturing politicians, fixers and media operators engaged in verbal warfare with astonishing ferocity. Think Veep with a distinctly Gallic accent; fans of Armando Iannucci's savage political dissections will find much to savour here. Filmed before France's current political turmoil, the narrative pulsates with uncanny, almost prophetic resonance.
Newcomer Jean Chevalier is perfectly cast as the slippery modern opportunist, supported by an hilarious François Cluzet's reluctant patriarch, Karin Viard's irresistible party operative and Alex Lutz (The Stolen Painting) rounding out a stellar ensemble. Sharp, unsparing, and mischievously entertaining, THE SON OF is a winning satire where absolutely everyone is compromised, and no one emerges unscathed.