28/07/2025
🎬🎬 Inexorable is a French‑Belgian psychological thriller written and directed by Fabrice du Welz. The film premiered at the Deauville Film Festival on September 7, 2021, then screened at TIFF before its theatrical release in France in April 2022 . It stars Benoît Poelvoorde as Marcel Bellmer, a celebrated novelist suffering from writer’s block, who moves with his wife Jeanne (Mélanie Doutey) and their young daughter Lucie (Janaïna Halloy Fokan) into Jeanne’s immense inherited countryside château .
Their quiet life is disrupted by the arrival of Gloria (Alba Gaïa Bellugi), a mysterious young woman hired as a housekeeper. Gloria insinuates herself into the family’s life—bonding with Lucie, captivating Marcel with her admiration for his work, and gradually exposing the cracks in the couple’s relationship . Bellugi's performance, alternating between vulnerable innocence and unsettling manipulation, has been widely praised by critics .
Visually, the film embraces a brooding, atmospheric style marked by Manuel Dacosse’s cinematography and Vincent Cahay’s score. Scenes drenched in red lighting underscore Gloria’s escalating influence and the family's psychological unraveling .
Critics have noted the film’s strengths in performance and mood—Dwight Brown called it “disturbing, erotic, obsessive… engaging and baffling until the brutal ending” . However, some felt the narrative lost momentum mid‑film or leaned too heavily on clichés, leading to an underwhelming climax .
On Rotten Tomatoes, Inexorable holds a 73% Tomatometer rating from 15 critics , reflecting generally favorable responses to its stylish ex*****on and chilling central performance, even if its plot offers few surprises.
At 98 minutes, Inexorable delivers a sleek, tension‑soaked thriller powered by a mesmerizing lead performance, haunting visuals, and a disquieting, inexorable sense of dread. It invites audiences into a psychological game that escalates into tragic consequences.
