Jacques Audiard is coming off the most successful—and controversial—film of his career: “Emilia Pérez.” The trans gangster musical was picked up by Netflix at Cannes 2024, nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and earned Zoe Saldaña a Best Supporting Actress statuette.
Audiard is now reuniting with Netflix on his next project, which is being described as an “elevated horror film.”
According to Variety, Netflix has greenlit “La Nuit ravagée,” based on the acclaimed horror novel by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo. The film will be a French-language Netflix original.
“La Nuit ravagée” is set in a fictional suburb near Toulouse in the early 1990s, where a group of teenagers is drawn to an abandoned house with a sinister power. After a friend’s mysterious death, they enter the house, only to discover that it feeds on their fears, desires, and traumas, turning their vulnerabilities into horrifying realities.
Audiard, an expert craftsman, has explored many genres throughout his career, but he has never tackled horror—making this a particularly intriguing next step. However, because it is a Netflix original, the film will likely be ineligible to compete at Cannes, where many of Audiard’s films have premiered.
With “Emilia Pérez,” Audiard found himself at the center of a never-ending storm of controversy involving Mexican representation, trans representation, and, to make matters worse, the resurfacing of Karla Sofía Gascón’s offensive past tweets, including posts praising Hitler and targeting various communities.
Amid the controversy, some may have forgotten that Audiard remains one of the most celebrated French filmmakers of the 21st century, having directed acclaimed works such as “The Beat That My Heart Skipped,” “Rust and Bone,” “Dheepan,” and my personal favorite, the gangster classic “A Prophet.”
There is no word yet on when “La Nuit ravagée” will begin production, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on any updates.
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