The Five Devils

Vicky is a seven-year-old girl with a magically superdeveloped sense of smell. When her aunt comes to visit, Vicky finds out about a series of family secrets that explain the sadness with which her mother (a swimming teacher played by Adèle Exarchopoulos) lives with every day. The Five Devils kicks off from a fantastical premise in order to explore complex interpersonal bonds affected by a tragic event from the past. Women, in particular, have intense connections that are not always conscious or obvious to them. In her second feature, Léa Mysius picks up a possible tradition of films about children with supernatural powers, minimizing the usual horror components in order to delve into concerns of another kind—racism, small-town hearsay and intolerance towards same-sex relationships.