François Ozon returns with a career-best work, an exquisite adaptation of Albert Camus’s classic existential novel, which premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Shot in crisp black and white, the film is a masterful interpretation, reconstituting some of the novel’s themes for the modern era.

Set in 1938 Algiers, Meursault (played by the mesmerising Benjamin Voisin) is a quiet and unassuming man in his early 30s. Upon finding out his mother has passed, he attends her funeral without so much as shedding a tear. The next day, he begins a casual affair with Marie (Rebecca Marder), whom he has known for a while. He quickly slips back into his usual routine, but his daily life is soon disrupted by his neighbour, Raymond Sintès (Pierre Lottin), who draws Meursault into his shady dealings. Completely indifferent to his relationships and interactions, both socially and romantically, Meursault allows himself to be guided by whatever is happening around him in the moment. One hot summer’s day, when this impassiveness leads to a tragic event involving a local Algerian man, we learn that nothing will sway Meursault from his philosophical point of view. 

Ozon’s retelling brings the contradictions and hypocrisy of the French colonial project into sharper focus, while maintaining the original novel’s spirit of philosophical provocation.