La Frappe: a strong film about incest (review)

Double awarded at the Angoulême festival for its direction and the interpretation of Diego Murgia, this first, largely autobiographical feature reveals a filmmaker to follow: Julien Gaspar-Oliveri.

This first feature, discovered during Cannes Critics’ Week, opens with a close-up of a skin without us knowing to whom it belongs. This sequence sets the tone for what will follow: the desire to leave uncertainty at the heart of the story. Because when Anthony (Bastien Bouillon, chilling) leaves prison and finds Enzo, his 19-year-old son (Diego Murgia, impressive) and Carla, his 20-year-old daughter (Romane Fringelli, a revelation) trying to rebuild their family, we know nothing of this man’s past. Nothing that landed him behind bars. Nothing about the details of his relationship with the children. Yet a disturbance and anguish reign over these first minutes, even behind the smiles and tender gestures.

Gaspar-Oliveri does not manipulate the viewer: incest, the elephant in the middle of the room, will be clearly revealed. But by refusing to say everything right away, the filmmaker finds a relevant angle to tell it. La Frappe does not show this incest, any more than it tells of a journey of resilience. It plunges us into Enzo’s head, into his dissociated mind, into his impossibility of seeing his father as an executioner, into his incapacity not to love him and not to prove this love to him through behavior dictated by control. The result is chilling, undeniably trying but remarkable for its mastery of the story and its staging which reveals an author to follow. And the jury of the Angoulême festival chaired by Franck Dubosc made no mistake this weekend, awarding it two prizes for its direction and for the interpretation of Diego Murgia.

By Julien Gaspar-Oliveri. With Diego Murgia, Bastien Bouillon, Romane Fringelli… Duration: 1h46. Released September 2, 2026