The accusation, the film tonight on Rai 3: the plot, the cast and the book

CHarlotte Gainsbourg and Ben Attal are the protagonists of the film The accusationbroadcast tonight at 9.20pm on Rai 3. In the center, the story of a boy accused of rape by the daughter of her mother’s new partner. It is the beginning of a nightmare for all the characters involved, which will lead to the crumbling of family relationships.

The accusationthe plot of the movie

TV host Jean Farel (Pierre Arditi) and ex-wife Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg)intellectual and fervent feminist, have been separated for some time and they have a son, Alexandre (Ben Attal), who studies engineering at Stanford University, in the United States. A good boy, a model student, who never caused any problems.

Claire’s new boyfriend, Adam Wizman (Mathieu Kassovitz) is also separated, and his ex-wife is an extremely religious Jewish woman with whom he has a daughter, Mila (Suzanne Jouannet). Alexandre returns to Paris to participate in a ceremony in honor of his father, and one evening at his mother’s house he knows Mila, with whom after dinner he goes to a party for the old students of the Henri IV Lyceum.

The next morning Alexander he is woken up by the police and ends up arrested on charges of raping Mila. From the beginning, he firmly disclaims any responsibility and is certain that he will soon return to the United States. Instead, he is taken to the cell, where he meets public defender Arhur Célerier (Benjamin Lavernhe).

Mila and Alexandre: what is the truth?

Inevitably the story involves the respective families and it will be increasingly difficult to seek the truth in a crescendo of accusations, under the watchful eye of the mass media. Alexandre’s arrest becomes an event of national importance and public opinion is divided, as often happens with news events, and sides now with the victim, now with the accused.

Relationships between family members begin to crumble. First of all, the one between Claire and Adam. She does not believe that her son could have committed such a crime. He supports his daughter Mila. And every conversation becomes a battleground.
Alexandre’s father, Jean, he is also the toughest character in the whole story. For him Mila is “definitely a crazy girl” looking for attention. Over time, however, Claire begins to wonder if her son is really innocent.

Then when the process opens, in During the hearing, the details of the night spent together are discussed. From arriving at the party to the offending night. Direct questions, which force Mila to relive every second, and Alexandre to listen to her side of the story. Two opposing truths.

On the one hand, the victim claims to have been forced to have sexual intercourse. She tells the judges that Alexandre had a knife and she gave herself up out of fear. On the other hand, the accused claims that it was a consensual relationship. So what is the truth? Is Alexandre guilty? Is Mila a victim or has she enacted revenge? In parallel, a new scenario emerges: hidden truths of the respective families that accentuate the clashes until the grand finale.

The accusationfrom book to film

The film is based on the novel Human things by Karine Tuilpublished in 2019 and inspired by an event that happened on the Stanford campus in 2016. In the literary transposition it tells the tragedy that befalls the Farel family. And this film is also a family affair. The director is Yvan Attal, linked to Charlotte Gainsbourg since 1991with whom he had three children: Alice Jane, born in 2022, Jo (2011) and Ben (1997). The couple’s eldest son, Ben Attal, takes on the role of the accused Alexandre. It’s not the first time the three have worked together. The debut, in fact, dates back to 2019 with Mon chien stupid. Again Charlotte Gainsbourg and Ben played mother and son.

The accusation rides the contemporary. Inside there are #MeToo, the pressing current events and the way in which public opinion approaches cases of sexual violence. Media trials, trials on social media, trials in the courtroom. And each has its own truth, just like the characters represented in the film.

What emerges, in addition to the destruction of family ties, are the contrasting reactions of the protagonists. Who empathizes with the victimforced to retrace the night of violence to the point of exhaustion. Those who, on the other hand, side with the accused, who continues to profess his innocence, claiming to be the victim of deception. Presented out of competition at Venezia 78, it received a nomination for the 2022 Césars for best adaptation.

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