Heir: Did you hear the ending of Xavier Legrand’s movie?

5 years after the successful release of Until the Guard, Xavier Legrand is back with The Successor! Remember Before The Guard was a surprise success, winning a series of awards, from the Silver Lion in Venice to the 2019 Cesars (5 statues including Best Film), including awards at the Saint Jean de Festival. Luz. The film attracted more than 400,000 viewers.

This Wednesday, he presented The Successor, a film with which the filmmaker certainly wants to surprise and shake, as he told us in an interview.

We invite you to listen to our interview with Xavier Legrand, director and screenwriter.

Hold the audience, yes, and that is until the last frame of the film.

Warning, this article contains spoilers! Tip: Read on after watching the movie.

We asked Xavier Legrand to return for the final scene of the film. Here are its definitions for AlloCiné:

“I want to talk about disappearance, disappearance that is chosen. In disappearance there are all possible disappearances. There is a media fade, and the last shot is a magazine cover. And there is a physical disappearance… maybe!“

He follows: “There’s this iPad showing the cover validation of Harper’s Bazar magazine, which was chosen by the fashion house’s communications team. The movie is about finding that cover title. There are discussions. It’s not bad, but we have to find something else. And finally, the final ax of sorts is that the title has a lot of ambiguity, leaving only the last name: Barnes. While he called himself Elijah Barnes and his real name is Sebastian. That is, what will remain will be only the father’s name.

It is said that this blood bond is an irresistible bond, that there is a history behind it that we can never erase. And unfortunately, that’s what Elias wanted: to erase the unerasable. He didn’t choose to disappear. It must disappear.”

We hear from the sound that something is happening!

“After that there are various possible interpretations. There’s this iPad that shuts down. Suddenly the photo disappears. We established that the character is in the hotel room that we saw earlier in the film, and he goes back to this balcony terrace to get some fresh air, smoke a cigarette, or do something else… everyone will have their own. Interpretation, but in any case, it is not on the screen. It comes off the screen… From the sound we hear that something is happening!“

and added: “I believe there is no ambiguity in the sound. And this is a tragedy! The definition of tragedy is that it ends in a worse disaster. In every tragedy, a character dies! But this disappearance can also be symbolic. What remains and what disappears.“

For the record, another, more telling ending was considered. In the end, a more ambiguous ending was chosen. Note that this ending is different from the ending of the novel that The Heir adapts. The film is an adaptation of Alexander Postel’s “Ascendant”.

The Successor is currently in theaters.