Tony (Emmanuelle Bercot) and Georgio (Vincent Cassel) are in a complex relationship in Maïwenn’s MY KING
MY KING (MON ROI) (Maïwenn, 2015)
Lincoln Plaza Cinema
1886 Broadway at 63rd St.
Opens Friday, August 12
212-757-2280
www.lincolnplazacinema.com
Emmanuelle Bercot shared the Best Actress award at Cannes with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara for her emotional roller coaster of a performance as a woman dealing with both physical and psychological pain in the overwrought, insufferable My King. Writer-director Maïwenn (Polisse, Forgive Me) jumps back and forth between the present, in which Tony (Bercot), a lawyer, is going through extensive rehab because of a skiing accident that tore up one of her knees, and the past, when Tony first met Georgio (Vincent Cassel) at a club, kicking off a complicated codependent relationship filled with intense love and severe turmoil. Georgio is a selfish ladies’ man who enjoys staying out late, partying with his friends rather than being a responsible husband. When Tony gets pregnant, Georgio tells one of his ex-girlfriends, Agnès (real-life model Chrystèle Saint Louis Augustin, in her feature film debut), and she attempts suicide. Georgio is still very close with his ex and insists that he must take care of Agnès, driving a wedge between him and Tony that might separate them permanently. But every time their marriage appears to be doomed, Tony lets him back into her life, even though she knows that yet more heartbreak will follow. My King, which also features Louis Garrel as Tony’s extremely concerned brother and Isild Le Besco, Maïwenn’s sister, as his wife, is disjointed, and the past and present story lines feel like they’re from different films. Bercot, who starred with Maïwenn in Polisse (the two cowrote the screenplay as well), holds nothing back as Tony, who just can’t say no, while Cassel is too knowingly smarmy as Georgio, who understands just how to manipulate her to get what he wants. It’s far too frustrating watching them together, and even though that’s part of the point, it doesn’t make for a satisfying cinematic experience.