''The Mad Women's Ball'' (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Le bal des folles'') is a 2021 French

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Mélanie Laurent Mélanie Laurent (; born 21 February 1983) is a French actress and filmmaker. She has received two César Awards and a Lumière Award. Internationally, Laurent is known for her roles in ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009), '' Now You See Me'' (2013 ...

from a screenplay by Laurent and Christophe Deslandes. It is based upon the novel ''Le bal des folles'' by Victoria Mas, and stars Laurent,

Lou de Laâge Lou de Laâge (, born 27 April 1990) is a French actress.Thierry Chèze ''L'Express (France), L'Express'', 11 April 2013Sophie GrassinLou de Laâge, le charme à l'état pur ''Le Figaro'', 11 May 2012Khadija Moussou5 choses à savoir sur Lou de ...

Emmanuelle Bercot Emmanuelle Bercot is a French actress, film director, and screenwriter. Career Filmmaking Bercot wrote, directed, and played a lead role in the film '' Clément'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film ...

, Benjamin Voisin,

Cédric Kahn Cédric Kahn (; born 17 June 1966) is a French screenwriter, film director and actor. Career His films include ''L'Ennui'' (1998), based on the Alberto Moravia novel ''Boredom'', and ''Red Lights (2004 film), Red Lights'' (2004), based on the Geor ...

and Grégoire Bonnet. It had its world premiere at the

2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...

on 12 September 2021 and was released for streaming on 17 September 2021 by

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

Cast

as Eugénie Cléry *

as Geneviève Gleizes *

as Jeanne *

Martine Chevallier Martine Chevallier (born 1949 in Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France) is a French actress. Career Martine Chevallier joined the Conservatoire national supérieur d’art dramatique in the class of Antoine Vitez and won the first prize in 1974. In 1986, ...

as Grand-mère Cléry * Benjamin Voisin as Théophile Cléry *

as François Cléry * Lomane de Dietrich as Louise * Christophe Montenez as Jules * Coralie Russier as Henriette * Lauréna Thellier as Marguerite * Martine Schambacher as Thérèse * Valérie Stroh as Mère Cléry *

André Marcon André Marcon (born 6 July 1948) is a French actor. In 1980 he starred in '' Le Voyage en douce'' directed by Michel Deville. Selected filmography * '' Le Voyage en douce'' (1980) * '' Stolen Life'' (1998) * '' Peau d'Ange'' (2002) * '' The P ...

as Dr. Gleizes * Grégoire Bonnet as Dr.

Jean-Martin Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurology, neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on groundbreaking work about hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise A ...

Production

In January 2020, it was announced that

would write and direct a film based upon the novel ''Le bal des folles'' by Victoria Mas, with

Alain Goldman Alain Goldman, also known as Ilan Goldman (born 12 January 1961), is a French film producer. Early life Goldman was born in Montmartre, Paris, the son of Ashkenazi Jews, Jewish parents. His grandfather was the first representative for Universal P ...

serving as a producer under his

Légende Films Legende or Légende may refer to: * ''Légende'' (Cras), a work for cello and piano by Jean Cras * ''Légende'' (Enescu), a work for solo trumpet and piano by George Enescu * ''Légende'' (Wieniawski), a showpiece by the Polish violin virtuoso He ...

banner. In June 2020, it was announced that Laurent and

had joined the cast of the film, with

Gaumont Film Company Gaumont SA () is a French film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Founded by the engineer-turned-inventor Léon Gaumont (1864–1946) in 1895, it is the oldest extant film company in ...

set to distribute the film in France. In November 2020, it was further announced that

, Benjamin Voisin, Cédric Khan and Grégoire Bonnet had joined the cast of the film, with

distributing worldwide and with Gaumont no longer distributing.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in November 2020. The soundtrack was composed by

Asaf Avidan Asaf Avidan () is an Israelis, Israeli Singing, singer and songwriter born in Jerusalem. He was raised in Jamaica, and currently resides in Europe. From 2006 to 2011, he was part of the band Asaf Avidan & the Mojos, independently releasing three ...

and performed by Avidan (Piano and Keyboards) and Coleman Itzkoff (Cello).

Release

''The Mad Woman's Ball'' had its world premiere at the

on 12 September 2021. It was released on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

on 17 September 2021.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has an 85% approval rating based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Its themes are occasionally undercut by its storytelling, but outstanding performances give ''The Mad Women's Ball'' a poignant, disturbing power." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a rating of 72 out of 100, based on reviews from 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

wrote: "Contrived and possibly overheated though the film might be at times, there is real storytelling gusto to it, and Laurent punches it across with relish."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Woman's Ball, The 2021 films 2021 thriller films French thriller films Films directed by Mélanie Laurent Amazon MGM Studios films Films about medical malpractice Films set in psychiatric hospitals Amazon Prime Video original films Films set in the 1880s 2020s French films