“Le Horla” is a TV movie offered by Arte on Friday June 2, from 8:55 p.m. This is a modern adaptation of a short story written by the French author Guy de Maupassant…
This Friday, June 2, Arte broadcasts from 8:55 p.m. the TV movie entitled Le Horla. Here, we follow the story of Damien and Nadia, in their thirties, who leave Paris with their 8-year-old daughter Chloé. Graphic designer for an event company, Damien has negotiated full-time telecommuting to follow his partner who has just accepted a position at the Institut de Recherche Rivière.
Is Damien going crazy?
Installed in a modern building on the banks of the Cher, the couple begins a new life. In the first days of their installation, Damien, concentrated in front of his computer, is interrupted by noises which seem to travel through the walls. This noise pollution is accentuated and he can no longer work or sleep. Are the neighbors just noisy? Is the apartment haunted?
Around Damien, no one seems to perceive this disturbing presence and Nadia, although loving, struggles to understand her companion’s attitude. One evening, he discovers that his upstairs neighbor is indulging in mysterious rites…
In the casting, viewers find Bastien Bouillon (Damien), winner of the César for Best Young Male Hope for La Nuit du 12, but also Mouna Soualem (Nadia), Milla Harbouche (Chloé), Alix Blumberg dit Fleurmont (Anaïs Pellerin), Judith Zins (Marion), Guillaume Pottier (Joseph), Miglen Mirtchev (Bernier) and Philippe du Janerand (Mr. Attal).
An adaptation of Guy de Maupassant
Based on the work Le Horla by Guy de Maupassant, this project was scripted by Olivier Fox and Olivier de Plas. Marion Desseigne-Ravel directs. Here, the filmmaker transposes the short story of the great French writer to the present day, scrutinizing the mental confinement induced by the Covid years.
In an official press release, Arte explains: “This adaptation navigates in the troubled waters of the loss of reality, which, insidiously, gradually invades the screen (…) Marion Desseigne’Ravel revisits the Freudian notion of ‘disturbing strangeness’ in the light of our recent upheavals in life, according to a staging thought out like a dizzying puzzle, ready to come apart.”
Le Horla is already visible on arte.tv, until September 18, 2023.