‘Misericordia’ Review — A wicked sense of humor powers this twisted tale of jealousy

A review of the new drama, in theaters now

Alain Guiraudie’s new film Misericordia opens with a long shot of its main character driving. Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) lives in the city now, but he’s headed back to his small, rural French hometown. As he drives into Saint-Martial, we see the verdant greens of the forest become ancient, winding stone pathways, leading him up, up, up to the buildings of his youth.

He’s there, it turns out, for a funeral. The owner of the local bakery has passed away, taken by cancer quite quickly, and Jérémie was once close with the older man. His widow Martine (the great Catherine Frot) is happy to see her visitor, and she offers to let him crash for a few days instead of driving back to the city right away. Her son Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), on the other hand, isn’t too sure about the reappearance of his childhood friend.

After all, he’s afraid Jérémie is moving in on his recently-widowed mother. Jérémie is bemused by his former friend’s suspicion, preferring instead to spend his days looking for mushrooms out in the woods. And besides, it’s silly to think he’s there to seduce Vincent’s mother. After all, the boys themselves have a history of their own…