Eva (2018 film)

Eva is a 2018 French drama film directed by Benoît Jacquot, starring Isabelle Huppert and Gaspard Ulliel and based on the novel Eve by James Hadley Chase.[2] It tells the story of a young fraudster who causes the death of a girl who loves him because of his obsession for an older high-class prostitute. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.[3][4]

Eva
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBenoît Jacquot
Produced by
  • Mélita Toscan du Plantier
  • Marie-Jeanne Pascal
  • Olivier Père
Screenplay byBenoît Jacquot
Based onEve
by James Hadley Chase
Starring
Music byBruno Coulais
Edited byJulia Gregory
Production
company
  • Arte France Cinéma
  • EuropaCorp
  • Macassar Productions
Distributed byEuropaCorp Distribution
Release date
  • 17 February 2018 (2018-02-17) (Berlin)
  • 7 March 2018 (2018-03-07) (France)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$1,184,348[1]

Plot

Bertrand, a handsome young man who works as a male prostitute in Paris, leaves an elderly writer dead in his bath and steals the typescript of his just-finished play. Selling it to a publisher as his own work, it proves a success. Both the work and the apparent author greatly impress the publisher's assistant Caroline, who soon has Bertrand sleeping in her flat.

The pressure is now on Bertrand to write a follow-up, and he retreats to a mountain chalet to work. There he meets an older woman who completely fascinates him. This is Eva, who lives in her husband's elegant house and works as an expensive prostitute. She says her husband is on a prolonged business trip, but it is revealed to viewers that he is in jail. Obsessed by the enigmatic character of Eva and the things she tells him, Bertrand tells his publisher that she will be the subject of his next work. The publisher secretly books a session with Eva to see if she is real.

Caroline, sensing that Bertrand is avoiding her, turns up secretly at the chalet and finds Eva in the bath. Rushing away in despair, she crashes her car and is killed. Bertrand goes secretly to Eva's house, where a stranger beats him up so thoroughly that he is hospitalised. When released, he sees Eva in the street with a man viewers know is her just-released husband. She signals wordlessly to Bertrand to keep away.

Cast

Release

The film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival on 17 February 2018.[5][6] It was released in France on 7 March 2018.[7]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 17%, based on 6 reviews, and an average rating of 5.1/10.[8] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a grade of C−, writing: "Stuck between a high-class thriller and a trashy Cinemax wank, Benoît Jacquot's latest feature ultimately offers the pleasures of neither."[10] Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Eva slides off the rails during a denouement that goes full on B-movie without much credibility."[11]

See also

References
  1. "Eva". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  2. Baronnet, Brigitte (2 December 2016). "Isabelle Huppert et Gaspard Ulliel dans un remake d'Eva pour Benoit Jacquot". AlloCiné (in French). Webedia. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  3. Clarke, Stewart (18 December 2017). "Gus Van Sant's 'Don't Worry' Among First Berlinale Competition Titles to Be Unveiled". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  4. Press Office (18 December 2017). "Berlinale 2018: Benoit Jacquot, Gus Van Sant, Alexey German Jr., Małgorzata Szumowska, Philip Gröning, Thomas Stuber, and Laura Bispuri in the Competition / Isabel Coixet and Lars Kraume in the Berlinale Special". Annual Archives: 2018. Berlin International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  5. "Eva". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  6. Schaefer, Stephen (18 February 2018). "68th Berlinale hits & misses". Boston Herald. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  7. "Eva". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  8. "Eva (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  9. "Eva". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  10. Ehrlich, David (18 February 2018). "'Eva' Review: Not Even Isabelle Huppert Playing an Irritated Prostitute Can Save this Limp Melodrama — Berlinale 2018". IndieWire. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  11. Mintzer, Jordan (17 February 2018). "'Eva': Film Review | Berlin 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
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