Chabrol, The Silence of the Lambs…The Origin of Evil cult references by Lor Kalam

What is it about?

In a luxurious villa by the sea, a modest young woman discovers a strange family: an unknown and very rich father, his capricious wife, a daughter, an ambitious businessman, a rebellious teenager and a disturbing servant. Someone is lying. Between suspicions and lies, a mystery arises and evil spreads…

A film influenced by cinephiles

Warning, this article contains potential spoilers for the movie. If you want to keep the film as a surprise as possible, I recommend reading this article after watching it.

After discovering the origins of evil, it’s a safe bet that you’ll want to know a little more about some of the clues hidden in this film, full of eye-openers that will delight the audience.

Whether it’s the opening scene, that big house, or the way some of the characters look, The Origin of Evil echoes movies that are sometimes too familiar. We list some of these references exhaustively.

When asked about influence, Sébastien Marnier points out on our microphone that it is not necessary to consciously write instructions in the preamble: “When shooting a film, we don’t necessarily think about very precise references, he explains. “We devour the cinema, we analyze it, we care. We only live a little bit for the movies, so obviously everything is soaked in and we don’t necessarily question ourselves.On the other hand, Lor Kalam tells us:I can’t give you all the pointers I can think of. Without giving too many hints, I’d say it’ll be ready for anything but Springtime Marnie and Gone Girl.“.

Iconic female characters

One of the features of the film “Descent of Evil” is the emergence of strong female characters, which leaves many surprises in their development. Around the character of Stéphane (Lore Calam), who is at the center of the story, there is a gallery of figures, such as those embodied by Doria Tillier or Dominique Blanc.

Dominique Blanc’s character, who plays the mother of this intriguing family, echoes the iconic film figure Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in Dusk Boulevard.

As we can see in this photo from the film, the set of the film is also reminiscent of The Origin of Evil. In these two films, a vast and luxurious house takes center stage. We also think of François Ozon’s Eight Women, which also places the architecture of the house at the center of the scenario and a gallery of female characters based on archetypes.

Still on the subject of mysterious characters with an intriguing appearance, we can invoke the hairstyle of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca or the behavior of the servant, Agnes, played by Veronique Rugia Saura.

During our interview, Laure Kalami mentioned another important influence: “We talk a lot about Chabrol, but Bunuel is also a lot for me. There is something absurd, an irony, this bitter…– he adds to our microphone.

Each character’s appearance is well-researched, down to Suzanne Clement’s character, which is inspired by a 90s thriller.”I really wanted her to dress up like Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs. We went with the costume designer to find turtleneck sweaters. Even at the hair level, it was a really big influence. Also, because it’s quite a physical role for Suzanne, how she sculpts, how she sculpts herself… I really wanted to capture every body. Susan Clement sharpened her head for the filmSebastian Marnier tells us.

90s thriller codes

Another strong influence, the thriller that was in vogue in the 90s. The appearance of Susan Clement can definitely be remembered in the movie bound by Wachowski.

“Bound made history as a lesbian thriller. I love thrillers and these movies with real sensuality, real eroticism, and I find that it’s getting too thin for my taste. We have either completely polite movies or completely pornographic clips, and there’s really no in between. As a viewer, being a teenager in the 90s, there was this whole wave of somewhat sexual thrillers with Sharon Stone, Last Seduction with Linda Fiorentino… probably less cohesive than films like Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Liaison.

There weren’t that many movies with great female characters. They were said to be bitches and bitches when they were just powerful and maybe Machiavellian. We wanted that sensuality, that slightly underground, poisonous sexuality that runs through the entire film.“, emphasizes Sébastien Marnier at the microphone of AlloCiné.

Let’s mention another filmmaker whose presence hovers over the film, Brian De Palma. The opening scene in the dressing room may evoke Carrey’s first moments with the Devil’s Ball, but above all, the repeated use of the split screen could also be seen as a nod to De Palma. “The first split screen came about because of a limitation: the first lunch scene was too long and I wanted to bring it with energy. Split-screen imposed itself as a revelation. We did a sequence shot of Stephanie – who is in the center of all the split screens – and because she was poorly received by the hosts, I wanted her to have less and less space to surround her.“- says Sebastian Marnier.

“This idea revealed part of the film’s grammar. (…) It’s difficult because everything is a matter of watching and cheating, but again, it was interesting to do it. I’ve always liked split screen as well as zoom. These are my movie references and I like it when the staging is visible. In Origins of Evil, I wanted the artistic direction, staging, and sound production to provide a significant narrative charge..

On our microphone, the filmmaker emphasized the importance of “entertain the audience“, If no “Real must-see movies in theaters“,”That these films are not all trodden paths“.”We want to have fun in this film, no matter what it says, and we are making itSebastian Marnier concludes.

The Origin of Evil is in theaters from Wednesday, October 5.