THE SECOND ACT

(Le Deuxième acte)

CINEMA COMPETITION
TRUFFAUT THEATRE
Comedy

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1
10:40 pm

Presented in association with:
Kinology

Directed by: Quentin Dupieux
Written by: Quentin Dupieux
Produced by: Hugo Sélignac & Antoine Lafon (Chi-Fou-Mi Productions), Arte France Cinéma
Cinematography: Quentin Dupieux
Film Editing: Quentin Dupieux
Cast: Léa Seydoux (Florence), Louis Garrel (David), Vincent Lindon (Guillaume), Raphaël Quenard (Willy), Manuel Guillot (Stéphane), Françoise Gaziot (Rose)
International Sales: Kinology

Florence wants to introduce David, the man she’s madly in love with, to her father, Guillaume. But David isn’t really attracted to Florence and seems desperate to fix her up with his best friend, Willy. Then the foursome meets up in a restaurant in the middle of some desolate landscape. But wait…! The characters keep breaking the fourth wall! And their banter is chock-a-block with politically incorrect commentary. What’s going on?! Once again, totally off the wall, director Quentin Dupieux takes us on a tongue-in-cheek rollercoaster ride into the absurd with his signature black comedy. Which winds up being fairly hilarious (when it’s not completely horrific). It’s also a sardonic look at today’s cancel culture, a projection into the cyber-future of filmmaking, and a rapturous ode to the most infinite of tracking shots, all rolled into one!

Iconoclastic French filmmaker, electronic musician, and DJ Quentin Dupieux began making short films at 18 and has gone on to direct some twenty pretty surreal features. And he not only writes and directs them all, he shoots and edits them, as well… and for many years even composed their scores. His earliest features — his breakout film Rubber (2010); Wrong (2012), which premiered in Sundance; Wrong Cops (2013), which premiered in Cannes; and Reality (2014), which premiered in Venice — were all produced in the United States. His French productions include Keep an Eye Out (2018); Deerskin (COLCOA 2019), which was the opening film at the Cannes Director’s Fortnight; Mandibles (2020), which was screened out of competition in Cannes; Incredible But True (2022); Smoking Causes Coughing (2022); Yannick (2023); and Daaaaaali! (2024), which also premiered in Venice. The Second Act was the opening film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.