21/06/2017 - Back in film after The Returned, Fabrice Gobert confirms his original talent with a Kafkaesque thriller carried by an outstanding Laurent Lafitte

"You’re a real rotter, Antoine Leconte. One day, you’ll pay for all this!" But who is this rude remark from a man who has been coldly turned away ("we’ll keep you posted. Make an appointment") during a chic evening out at a bar addressed to? To the very powerful director of a major television group, an arrogant, extremely self-absorbed character who is set in his ways in the firm belief that life will bend to his whims and needs ("don’t ask for things, go get them!"). This is our anti-hero, brilliantly played by Laurent Lafitte and chosen by Fabrice Gobert as the protagonist for his second feature film, K.O. [+see also:
trailer
film profile], being released in French theatres by Wild Bunch today.

Highly anticipated after the much-acclaimed Lights Out [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile](unveiled in 2010 in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and nominated for the César for Best First Film in 2011) and the series The Returned (the first season of which took home the 2013 Emmy Award), the director is once again making his presence felt on the French film scene with a highly original film, a sort of sharp nightmare with faint echoes of David Lynch, Cronenberg and Fight Club. Indeed, teetering on the border with fantasy, K.O. doesn’t just rapidly bring us face to face with its protagonist, up until then a scornful spectator who believes he is untouchable, in a tunnel that throws him into the middle of a ring of life in which he will be subjected to some truly harsh blows, but also propels him to a certain extent into the shoes of his two adversaries, as he no longer really knows who he is.

The screenplay, written by Fabrice Gobert and Valentine Arnaud, is very effective and, in less than 24 hours, chisels out a portrait of the hateful Antoine, this man who is willing to cut anyone loose for the slightest failing, is almost devoid of all humanity ("who are you again?" ), and doesn’t even realise that his teenage daughter has been lazing around for a week, completely ignores his ex-wife, and is cheating on not only his current girlfriend Solange (Chiara Mastroianni), but his mistress Ingrid (Clotilde Hesme) as well. But a brutal accident, heralded by his indecision, puts him in the hospital, and when he wakes up, everything has changed: his social standing, the place of those closest to him in the hierarchy, the people in his personal life, etc. A complete change of scene that Antoine gradually sheds light on (and the viewer with him) on a journey tinged with disbelief and paranoia. Powerful yesterday and pathetic today, our anti-hero discovers the other side of his dominant world of times gone by, and must slowly but surely redefine his relationships with others, without however completely renouncing his personality. But is all this really happening, or is he just stuck in a coma nightmare?

Built on the ‘resonate, understand, discover’ triptych, K.O. is a film that may seem playful, but has a very dark core. A darkness that probes the dog-eat-dog world of big business and the Darwinian cult of individual success with a certain sense of rhythm, high-quality direction and an excellent lead actor (who manages to evoke a scrap of empathy with a character who is nonetheless particularly loathsome). And while the plot spins slightly out of control on the home stretch, trying to disorient the viewer as much as possible before the final twist, the Kafkaesque K.O. uses its psychological thriller structure to demonstrate sufficiently realised potential and aim straight for the wider public with a socially relevant subject. An extra step forwards in the rise to prominence of Fabrice Gobert, as well as Laurent Lafitte, who here confirms, after his ‘perverse’ performance in Elle, the range of his talents as an actor under that ultra bright smile of his. 

Produced by  2.4.7. Films and co-produced by Wild Bunch, France 2 Cinéma and Belgian companies Panache Productions and La Compagnie Cinématographique, K.O. is being sold internationally by Wild Bunch.

(Translated from French)