18/12/2023 - Xavier Seron is back with an episodic film about our sincere yet tortuous relationships with man’s best friend

Life's a Bitch [+see also:
trailer
interview: Xavier Seron
film profile], the second feature film from Xavier Seron, will screen this week at Les Arcs Film Festival in the Playtime section, after its world premiere in the Rebels with a Cause section of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. In his striking debut feature, Death By Death [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Seron
film profile], the Belgian filmmaker had elevated hypochondria to an art in following the wild and awkward misadventures of a man who wonders whether he may have inherited his mother’s breast cancer. An acerbic tone, outsized reactions and over-the-top emotions, visually supported by a contrasted black-and-white look that underlines the absurdity of situations, are the director’s trademarks, which he’s also displayed in his short films (notably in Le Plombier and L’Ours Noir, co-directed with Méryl Fortunat-Rossi, as well as in Sprötch, all three winners of the Best Short Film Magritte award). A trademark once again seen in this new work, an episodic film where the love of man (and woman) for animals is central to his or her inability to inhabit the world of human beings. 

Beware of the dog! It all starts with Tom. Tom is the kind of man nobody remembers, someone you just can’t place, a poor sod ill at ease with both life and the people in it. One day, however, his radiant neighbour knocks on his door. Cécile has a very particular mission for him: to pick up the dead neighbour’s dog. This dog, however, might very well be Satan incarnate. Greta, meanwhile, tends to treat other people like dogs. Well, not as nicely as she treats her own beloved dog, Sophie. So when the latter passes away — and Greta is also forced to replace her personal assistant, severely injured in the accident that took Sophie’s life — Greta is at a loss. She struggled to cope with her absence — the dog’s, of course. The final trio to experience the human-dog turmoil is composed of Franck, Lola, and Perdita, and it forces the viewer to ask themselves: can a love story survive a person’s phobia for their lover’s pet? 

At this stage, you must already know the answer. Naturally, it is bleak and melancholy, yet brought about with humour and tenderness; it is also implacable, Xavier Seron once again exploring the unfathomable complexity of human relationships. Are we ultimately made to live with our fellow human beings? Wouldn’t it be easier to limit ourselves to our apparently simple relationships with our pets? Through these three intertwined stories, moving between different registers, from the (of course) biting comedy to the offbeat love story and the absurd tale, the Belgian filmmaker skillfully explores the themes he’s obsessed with, offering some of the best Belgian actors working today a wonderful playground and confirming his talent for directing performances in the process. Jean-Jacques Rausin (already the lead in Death By Death) reunites with his accomplice in a role custom made for him, while Arieh Worthalter and Aurora Marion are surprising in a comic register they more rarely engage with. Mara Taquin delivers on her promise, while Louise Manteau and Ninon Borsei are absolute revelations. 

Life’s a Bitch was produced by Hélicotronc (Belgium), and co-produced by Artisans du Film (France). International sales are overseen by Be For Films, and the Belgium release set for next spring will be handled by O’Brother.

(Translated from French)