{"id":799,"date":"2026-05-28T19:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=799"},"modified":"2026-05-28T19:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:07:08","slug":"the-blow-review-a-gripping-feverishly-performed-french-drama-explores-incest-with-candor-and-emotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=799","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Blow\u2019 Review: A Gripping, Feverishly Performed French Drama Explores Incest With Candor and Emotion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tFor his bracing first feature, <em>The Blow<\/em> (<em>La Frappe<\/em>), writer-director Julien Gaspar-Oliveri chose a subject so bleak, many filmmakers wouldn\u2019t touch it with a ten-foot pole. And yet this raw and grippingly honest incest drama manages to find a bit of light in the darkness, showing how it\u2019s possible to live with the traumas of sexual abuse. Feverishly performed by newcomer Diego Murgia, who stars alongside C\u00e9sar award winner Bastien Bouillon, Gaspar-Oliveri\u2019s moving debut reveals that he\u2019s not only a talented director to watch, but one who\u2019s unafraid to tackle tough scenarios.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=797\">Andie MacDowell, Kevin Bacon Cast in Adaptation of Emily Henry Bestseller \u2018Beach Read\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<em>The Blow<\/em> focuses on a disarmingly troubled young man, Enzo (Murgia), who tries so hard to find affection in the eyes of his dad, Anthony (Bouillon), he\u2019s willing to ignore the worst thing a father could ever do to his own son. Enzo spends much of the film in a crushing state of denial, hoping against hope that love will somehow emerge from this mess. He\u2019s so vulnerable that you can\u2019t help feeling his pain \u2014 even when he winds up inflicting that pain on others.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h3>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tThe Blow\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<div>\n<span>The Bottom Line<\/span><br \/>\n<span><\/p>\n<p>\tA powerful debut tackles a tough subject.<br \/>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<strong>Venue: <\/strong>Cannes Film Festival (Critics\u2019 Week)<br \/><strong>Cast:<\/strong> Diego Murgia, Bastien Bouillon, Romane Fringeli, H\u00e9lo\u00efse Volle<br \/><strong>Director: <\/strong>Julien Gaspar-Oliveri<br \/><strong>Screenwriters: <\/strong>Julien Gaspar-Oliveri, Claudia Bottino<br \/>\n<span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1 hour 46 minutes\t\t\t<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n\tPer the press notes, Gaspar-Oliveri (who co-created the successful high school series, <em>Those Who Blush<\/em>) partially based the story (co-written with Claudia Bottino) on his own life, which seems evident given the emotional authenticity of his characters. Murgia\u2019s portrayal of Enzo is the movie\u2019s breakthrough performance, although Romane Fringeli, who plays the 19-year-old\u2019s abrasive older sister, Carla, is also a standout. Bouillon, meanwhile, continues a string of strong turns (including in <em>The Birthday Party<\/em>, which screened in Cannes\u2019 main competition this year) that began back in 2022 with Dominik Moll\u2019s thriller <em>The Night of the 12th<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe opening scene, lensed by Martin Rit in grainy close-ups, shows Enzo and Carla carelessly sleeping in bed together, their bodies subtly rising and falling with each breath. It seems like a blissful moment between the two siblings, who share a tight if volatile bond. But as the film progresses and we learn more about their childhood, that scene takes on a very different meaning: one in which proximity can breed both affection and contempt.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWith no parents in the picture and Carla moving out to a college dorm, Enzo\u2019s whole life seems to be in front of him. It helps that he has a burgeoning and very loving relationship with new girlfriend Laura (H\u00e9lo\u00efse Volle), whose parents run a go-kart track that seems to be the main source of entertainment in their working-class suburb of Marseille.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=795\">\u2018This Is Us\u2019 Star Chrissy Metz to Make Broadway Debut in \u2018&amp; Juliet\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut the state of independence Enzo has achieved at such a young age is broken when his dad returns home after a five-year stint in prison. A scene in which the two discuss Anthony\u2019s future with a parole officer underlines to what extent Enzo has become the man of the household, hiring his own father to help sell kitchen appliances at local flea markets.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBouillon creates a charming if menacing presence from the get-go, portraying Anthony as a father who\u2019s been out of the loop for too long with regards to both family and civilian life, yet still wants to be in charge. In one sequence foreshadowing what\u2019s to come, Enzo hides in a closet while his dad brings a woman home from the bar, witnessing some awkward and then off-putting sexual behavior. A latter scene in which the boy climbs in bed with Anthony reveals much worse, although it takes Gaspar-Oliveri a while to explain what exactly went down in the past.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhat\u2019s most moving about <em>The Blow <\/em>\u2014 whose French title can mean both a physical hit and a young hoodlum \u2014 is the way it charts Enzo\u2019s gradual awakening from a kid who\u2019s still too attached to his father, mostly for terrible reasons, to an adult who finally steps back and sees the truth, at which point the trauma is so overwhelming that it takes over. This happens during several explosive scenes in which Enzo lashes out at those who truly love him (his girlfriend; his sister, who wants nothing to do with their dad), searching in vain for someone to quell the suffering.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tMurgia is a revelation here, playing a loose cannon who\u2019s also deeply wounded, like a battered dog occasionally showing his teeth and sometimes biting those who feed him. The early moments in the drama, when Enzo is trying his best to please Anthony after he gets out of jail, offering to cook dinner or lending him a few bucks, will just about break your heart. Because deep down, Enzo knows that by getting closer to his dad, he\u2019s also getting further away from his own recovery. It\u2019s the constant push and pull between trauma and salvation that makes <em>The Blow<\/em> such a powerful experience.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=793\">Thriller \u2018The Long Now\u2019 in the Works at Netflix From \u2018Mad Men\u2019 Alum Semi Chellas (Exclusive)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Julien Gaspar-Oliveri&#8217;s first feature &#8216;The Blow&#8217; stars Bastien Bouillon and newcomer Diego Murgia as a father and son facing a deeply disturbing past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,13],"class_list":["post-799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-cannes-2026","tag-cannes-film-festival"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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