"The Man from the Cellar" sows horror in the life of a couple

• A couple sells their cellar to a retired history teacher who they discover has taken up residence there to develop their negationist activities.

• Jérémie Renier and Bérénice Bejo will try everything to dislodge the annoying person played by François Cluzet.

• "The Man from the Cellar" turns into a horror film as the situation escalates between the protagonists.

It is a horror film which brings together François Cluzet, Jérémie Renier and Bérénice Bejo this Wednesday.

seen at the Angoulême Festival, freezes the spectator's blood by tackling a thorny subject: negationism.

A bourgeois couple sells their cellar to a retired history professor.

All is well until they discover that not only has the nice, very polite gentleman moved into the locker room, but he's also a Holocaust denier.

They then want to kick him out.

"Their life turns into a nightmare because French law prohibits breaking the sale once the keys have been handed over", explains

  Philippe Le Guay

to

, who was inspired by a story that came to friends to write the screenplay of his film.

One step ahead

The standoff between the couple and the increasingly intrusive intruder takes on the allure of a thriller.

The man categorically refuses to leave the premises even if he is fully reimbursed.

"He poses as a victim," says the director.

It is one of the constants of deniers to estimate and make believe that they are persecuted.

“At first as gentle as a lamb, the character played by François Cluzet becomes more and more disturbing because he always seems to be one step ahead of the family he has trapped.

"It took me years to feel comfortable approaching this theme that I had never seen in the cinema," says Philippe Le Guay.

The current trend towards conspiracy encouraged me to take the plunge.

The suspense thickens as the "bad guy" turns out to be devious, managing to convince some of the inhabitants of the building to espouse his cause.

The situation escalates when he speaks to the couple's teenage daughter whom his arguments may well convince.

"He manages to make her doubt, which will complete the disruption of the family so much that infuriates the father," insists the filmmaker.

Monstrous ideas

Served by an impeccable cast,

has the intelligence never to be cartoonish.

"The spectator should not be faced with a croquemitaine," specifies Philippe Le Guay.

Deniers are pernicious in distilling their anti-Semitic ideology, which makes them even more dangerous.

His film shows the mechanism behind this hateful former teacher.

It is all the more scary since it is a human being with sickening ideas and not a monster.

Luchini gets married in the Spanish way for Philippe Le Guay

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• Negationism

• François Cluzet

• Berenice Bejo

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