Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
The Origin of Evil
Laure Calamy stars in this devious, involving French thriller by Sébastien Marnier, playing an outsider tangled in a web of upper-class family malice.
Director: Sébastien Marnier
Overview
Familiar to TV viewers as anxious PA Noémie in Call My Agent!, Calamy has recently made some bold big-screen moves away from that persona, nowhere more so than in this twisty psychological thriller with hints of Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell. She plays Stéphane, a cannery worker with her own reasons for making contact with a wealthy family. Despite a prickly reception, she finds herself drawn ever-closer to them in a mutually compromising game.
Following his inventive, unsettling School’s Out, writer-director Marnier offers a classy, devious update on the Claude Chabrol tradition of French psychological thrillers, with a superb cast including a pricelessly haughty Dominique Blanc, screen and stage veteran Jacques Weber, and Calamy as (to coin a phrase) you’ve never seen her before.
very strong language, strong sex, sexual threat, domestic abuse
Related
Reawakening Reawakening
Thriller 2024 90 mins Director: Virginia Gilbert
BAFTA-winner Jared Harris stars as a father wrestling with uncertainty when his daughter reappears a decade after vanishing.
The Universal Theory The Universal Theory
Thriller 2023 118 mins Director: Timm Kröger
The spirits of Lynch, Lang and Hitchcock haunt this cold war mystery-thriller with an awesome Alpine backdrop.
Body Double Body Double
Thriller 1984 114 mins Director: Brian De Palma
An unemployed actor is drawn into a world of voyeurism, seduction, mystery and murder, in Brian De Palma's playful and satirical homage to Hitchcock.
Red Rooms Red Rooms
Drama 2023 118 mins Director: Pascal Plante
The allure of the serial killer is explored in this deeply unsettling and unforgettable exploration of the impact of extreme violence.
Hyena Hyena
Crime 2015 112 mins Director: Gerard Johnson
In this stylish, dark crime thriller, a policeman’s complex web of underworld relationships is threatened by an internal affairs investigator.
Police Story Police Story
Martial arts 1985 101 mins Director: Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan's mind-blowing, high-octane extravaganza of death-defying stunts and action comedy.
Her Way Her Way
Drama 2021 97 mins Director: Cécile Ducrocq
From writer-director Cécile Ducrocq comes a bold, provocative drama starring an electric Laure Calamy (Call My Agent!) as a single mother and sex worker in a desperate situation.
Reawakening Reawakening
Thriller 2024 90 mins Director: Virginia Gilbert
BAFTA-winner Jared Harris stars as a father wrestling with uncertainty when his daughter reappears a decade after vanishing.
A Night of Knowing Nothing A Night of Knowing Nothing
Drama-documentary 2021 99 mins Director: Payal Kapadia
All We Imagine as Light director Payal Kapadia’s bold and distinctive feature debut explores the political climate of contemporary India.
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut Caligula: The Ultimate Cut
Period drama 2023 178 mins Director: Tinto Brass
Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren star in one of the most controversial films in cinema history, presented here in an entirely new cut compiled from the original rushes.
All We Imagine as Light All We Imagine as Light
Romance 2024 118 mins Director: Payal Kapadia
Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix-winning portrait of three women is a transcendent tale of love and sisterhood.
The Universal Theory The Universal Theory
Thriller 2023 118 mins Director: Timm Kröger
The spirits of Lynch, Lang and Hitchcock haunt this cold war mystery-thriller with an awesome Alpine backdrop.
The Love Witch The Love Witch
Comedy 2016 121 mins Director: Anna Biller
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in Anna Biller's outrageous tribute to 1960s Technicolor melodramas.