The arresting debut feature from writer-direct Julien Leclercq, and starring Albert Dupontel (Intimate Enemies; A Very Long Engagement; Irreversible), Marthe Keller (Black Sunday; Marathon Man), Marie Guillard (The Visitors 2; The Fifth Element) and Patrick Bauchau (Panic Room; Clear And Present Danger), Chrysalis is a slick, neo-noir, sci-fi action thriller in the tradition of Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall and A Clockwork Orange.
Paris, circa 2025. Driving home one evening, high-tech holographic surgeon Professor Brugen (Marthe Keller) and her daughter Manon (Melanie Thierry) are involved in a terrible car accident, which leaves Manon critically injured.
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, hard-boiled cop David Hoffman (Albert Dupontel) and his partner and lover, Sarah (Smadi Wolfman), are engaged in a subterranean pitched gun battle with an escaped criminal, a Bulgarian black marketeer named Dimitri Nicolov (Alain Figlarz).
The conflict results in a tense Mexican standoff, during which Nicolov brutally murders Sarah before escaping.
His life shattered and now driven only by his need for vengeance, Hoffman is partnered with rookie officer Marie Becker (Marie Guillard), who assists him in his vigilante quest to track down Nicolov.
Their joint investigation into Nicolov’s current whereabouts uncovers a human trafficking ring and a succession of victims, both dead and alive, all bearing similarly scarred eyelids.
Eventually, the trail leads them to Brugen’s clinic, where the professor is employing her advanced medical techniques and recovered memory therapies in the recuperative treatment of her injured daughter. But what is the connection between Professor Brugen and Nicolov?
One of the most stylish and accomplished debut sci-fi movies in recent years, Leclercq’s visionary representation of a near-future Paris is as impressive and believable as it is chilling.
A gripping thriller with cyber-punk undertones, Chrysalis also features several explosive, close-combat fight sequences designed by celebrated stunt co-ordinator Alain Figlarz (The Bourne Identity), who also stars as Nicolov, the ruthless villain at the centre of the film’s mystery.
Chrysalis (cert. tbc) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Momentum Pictures on 9th June 2008. Special Features include ‘Making of’ and trailer.