Adrien, a gigolo played by Pierre Niney, sees Martha, an actress older than him.
Until he crosses paths with the charming Margot (Marine Vacth).
Quickly, the two lovers will weave a Machiavellian plan to earn money.
After the success of "La belle époque" and the latest OSS 117, Nicolas Bedos wanted to film "a kind of masked ball where the true face of the characters remains hidden. The whole film is a deception: it is the vanity of the money and the masquerade of glory," he said in an interview with AFP.
"The film begins as a genre comedy to end as a thriller. I wanted to question the luck of the previous generation who damaged the planet and enjoyed daily pleasures without thinking of the consequences", says Nicolas Bedos.
The young couple formed by Adrien and Margot take revenge on this generation represented by the actress Martha (Isabelle Adjani) and the real estate agent Simon (François Cluzet) who spend lavishly.
Quest for power, excess and desires are exacerbated throughout the film.
However, "there is no morality. Nothing is black or white, each character has his reasons for deceiving, his complexity, his weaknesses".
Like in real life, where he says he draws his inspiration.
"The daily is in a way the Miss France of the best stories. I put them in competition and I choose the most exciting. As a teenager, I myself was a little Adrien, I know people who live like Martha and friends of mine look like Simon", the real estate agent who is manipulated by Margot.
"Mascarade" is also "the story of a failed book. I wanted to write a book but I was not good enough", considers the French director, who preferred to adapt the scenario he would have dreamed of seeing on a big screen. screen, teenager.
© 2022 AFP