No pun intended - the individuals here may be masking their true identity for some of the other characters involved, but we as viewers know them ... and I would assume most will not find much endearing or appealing ... which obviously is a problem if you do not have likeable characters ... rather the opposite to be honest.

The main female actress is super beautiful, but also a lot of trouble .. on the other hand, the love interest is not much better ... even if he seems to be naive and good (morally speaking) in the beginning ... now talking of her looks, there is nudity, there are sexual situations, but do not watch this, if that is what you are after. Even if there are quite a lot of "love making" it is (mostly) short and more of the movie showing us that they are crazy for each other ... or just try to get something from whomever they lay with and next to .. just saying - so you can do a movie, without really going into lengths in that respect.

The mystery is not really one I'd say ... but the actors really try their best to sell it to us. In different news and because I like numbers, this is review number 11102 ... Maxxine was 11100 - as in third part of the trilogy ... a nice little thing by the way ... and the kinds of kindness gets the "weird" number 11101 ... probably there is a binary meaning to that too ... as inconsequential as this all may sound ... as much as you probably will care about the destiny and fate of the characters in the movie ...

Mascarade is a 2022 French film written and directed by Nicolas Bedos. The film stars Pierre Niney, Isabelle Adjani, François Cluzet, Marine Vacth, Emmanuelle Devos, Laura Morante, Charles Berling, James Wilby, Nicolas Briançon, Christiane Millet, Bruno Raffaelli, Philippe Uchan, and Daniel Hanssens.

The film follows Adrien (Niney), an attractive dancer whose career was shattered by a motorcycle accident. He squanders his youth in idleness, living off the largesse of older women. His life changes when he meets Margot (Vacth), a beautiful and manipulative woman who lives off scams and romantic entanglements. Together, they fantasize about a better life and set up a diabolical scheme, an emotional masquerade.

**Masquerade** is a stylish and well-acted film that is both funny and thought-provoking. Bedos's direction is sharp and confident, and he brings out the best in his cast. Niney and Vacth are both excellent, and they have great chemistry together. The supporting cast is also very good, with standout performances from Adjani, Cluzet, and Devos.

The film's biggest strength is its script. Bedos has written a clever and witty story that is full of surprises. The film is also surprisingly touching, and it explores some complex themes about love, deception, and identity.

However, the film is not without its flaws. The pacing can be a bit slow at times, and the film's ending is a bit too ambiguous for some tastes. Overall, though, **Masquerade** is a well-made and enjoyable film that is sure to please fans of French cinema.

A film that gives many surprises, revelations, love, sex, money, conspiracy, characters much more complex than they seem and a masquerade. I really appreciated the structure of the film: the fact that we start with a flash forward which plunges us directly to the end of the film which results from our misunderstanding; but little by little the film reveals the characters, their inclinations, their objectives, their hidden faces and plots. I was pleasantly surprised and laughed many times. Because yes the film is comedy. The sexual scenes are also presented although a little prude although we saw a penis on the screen at the time of the blackmail (which was rather unexpected because things were hidden from us at the beginning and it was only visible without revealing any private part). The character of Margot was rather interesting although sometimes extreme (sucking off a stranger in a stolen car) and comical (the part where she takes an English accent and tries to coax). The character of Adrien also remains interesting and the double game that they will play to extract money from their targets will tell us about their deceit, manipulation and theft that we will enjoy watching all the same. Isabelle Adjani is wonderful in her role. So a game is established that involves Margot, Adrien, Martha, Simon, Carole and Jeanne (at the end we will understand better). What is quite brilliant in the scenario is that we don't really know who to trust: we watch everyone do their shenanigans and we hope that it will work for Adrien and Margot. But a relationship based on such a brief moment may also raise questions about the depth of Margot's plot: can she go deeper? Yes, because we learn at the end that her real plan was to live alone with her daughter in a luxurious house: something she manages to do at the expense of Adrien who remains a prisoner with a woman with an English accent (irony of fate). I found that the development took its time to build this game and this masquerade because the scenes in court let us think from the start that things have turned into Drama and it is that Simon is being completely fooled by Margot; he will learn it much later. I found the film brilliant in its dialogues, lines, the comedy and the seriousness which affect almost the whole film and especially a plot which grows when the various court testimonies follow one another. The film also has many surprises about the stolen objects and the fact that Margot intended to steal everything and keep it for herself, but Adrien had made people believe that the paintings were worthless (another revelation that I found unexpected).

I can only recommend this film which is a real masquerade in the good sense of the word. With funny, dramatic, sexual, romantic passages, surprises in the scenario (in the staging, the script, the dialogues). I really fell in love with the characters in all their pettiness as well as their motivations and what was to come. An incredible surprise that I enjoyed discovering at the cinema.