Incredible But True (2022) User Reviews

6.9/10. Recommended

[athanasiosze · 7/10 · 19 November 2022]

If you have watched other Quentin's Dupieux movies, you know what to expect. This is another comedy/drama/fantasy movie, surreal, bizarre, funny and weird. His movies are like a Parallel World, it's looking like ours, but it's not.

This movie is more coherent than his previous ones, there are some understandable messages here. It's a satire of modern way of living/of our shallow ambitions. Viewer gets what Dupieux try to say. Vanity is an unseen enemy of our happiness.

This is a better movie than Le daim (2019), better than WRONG (2012), a little bit worse than REALITY (2014).

I can't rate it higher because it didn't amaze me. It's clever, not brilliant. Enjoyable, not exciting. You will not think about this movie after you watch it, just like almost every other movie of him. In any case, if you haven't heard of this director, and you find it interesting as it was described, watch it.

Cinema Omnivore - Incredible But True (2022) 6.4/10

[lasttimeisaw · 6/10 · 22 January 2023]

"INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE commences with an intriguing question mark hanging over audience's heads, only when the answer is revealed (in a two-fold step implemented through slightly confusing montages), the story goes less fantastic than it promises, the immemorial obsession of a woman gets her youth back (so she can be a model, no less) is tiring and its 'skin deep' revelation also feels too facile. The ensuing marital discord never reaches its boiling point, and the entire third act is composed of dialogue-less, fast-forward, rapidly spliced shots that condense years of story into one predictable combo, it seems Dupieux himself has lost patience to the banality of the script and just wanted to reach the finish line as quickly as possible."

-

Clever concept...

[Thanos_Alfie · 5/10 · 25 March 2023]

"Incredible But True" is a Drama - Fantasy movie in which we watch a couple moving to their new suburb house but their real estate agent informs them about their unique basement and what it can do, this will change their lives.

I liked this movie because it had a simple but interesting plot and the direction which was made by Quentin Dupieux who is also the writer, it was good. He succeeded on presenting very well his main characters and their connection while he made clear the plot of the movie. The interpretations of both Alain Chabat who played as Alain Duval and Léa Drucker who played as Marie Duval were very good and the difference of their characters created a nice result. To sum up, I have to say that "Incredible But True" is a nice movie and I recommend everyone to watch it.

weird...

[ops-52535 · 6/10 · 8 November 2022]

Little art stub from increible france, so believe it or not...

its easy to spoil the fun due to its compressed idea and small cast, that doesnt fail much, what i strive most of all with is the urge of 70's and 80's feeling that i had but they say its 2021 in the story. Another issue is the somehow bleach like imaging of the world, just like the film where dried in the sun for speeding up purposes.

But its a film about a house, sex, rejuvination, man-holes, electronic dicks, instability , bad apples and ants. What amaze me most is that i wouldve betted my roins to japan and back if i ever bought a house like the story tells about.

So a witty presentation for us old and gregarious, there are only one truth in life except being born and that is to die, so believe it or not, a small recommend from the grumpy old man.

Age not wise

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 10 April 2022]

Quentin Dupieux - I assume you have heard from him. Even better if you have seen a movie or two he has done. If not - well you are in for a treat. A treat that you might like - you hopefully like that is. It is tough to describe or talk about the story when it comes to his movies. Still this is one of the ones that I guess you could say makes sense.

Sense if you are open to the supernatural other dimensions and time travel. Sounds like a lot - maybe I packed more in there than needed ... but one thing is for sure: you have to be open minded. Even more open minded than the husband. But way less than his wife ... or at least less enthusiastic that is.

Japanese inventions, ladders to "infinity" and more crazy stuff can be found here. And all is more or less accepted as part of the world the character live in. Really good acting and shorter than 80 minutes this is a delight to say the least.

So bad but true

[vaissier · 2/10 · 17 June 2022]

Predictable, super vulgar, old comedic effects, caricatures here we come. Seriously what happened to Dupieux. The image is disgusting, acting is off besides tertiary roles and Anaïs Demoustier. Luckily it was 70 minutes.

The myth of eternal youth

[Aatchoum · 9/10 · 17 June 2022]

The myth of eternal youth as seen by Quentin Dupieux. Original and quite funny, and also a little sad since eternal youth is a myth. With excellent performers, in particular Alain Chabat, Lea Drucker, Benoît Magimel and Anaïs Demoustier.

Incredible, but trash

[stairways · 2/10 · 9 December 2023]

What an utter waste of time and of an amusing, even promising first ten minutes or so. A couple buy a house which has an unexplained duct (think tunnel entrance) in the basement, descending through which, they discover, brings them inexplicably back to the upper floor of the house but, more importantly and mysteriously, also appears to move them forward in time by 12 hours and makes them get younger by three days. So far so pretty good (it is a fantasy, after all; no scientists were harmed or consulted in the making of this movie.) The setup is an amusing enough modern take on a familiar fairytale conceit of ageing and desire, with all the promise and threat of that genre.

Thereafter, however, the director and writer might as well take off in the abandoned car we see early on in the garden of the house (one of perhaps a dozen loose ends) and drive away at speed, leaving the hapless actors struggling to do anything at all with the mess that used to be a story.

That The Guardian chose this as one of its 50 movies of 2023 is reason enough for regular drug tests of the editorial staff of a once-relevant and more or less reliable paper.

Avoid this? Bien sur.

Why do we need gadgets?

[ayoreinf · 9/10 · 30 July 2022]

This brilliant short long movie (74 minutes) is defined as comedy drama fantasy. In fact it's a sci-fi satire but since fantasy and sci-fi are next of kin I'll accept the term. As for comedy drama - it's a non term to begin with but satire seem to confuse many since it uses humor as its main weapon.

That was all I'll speak about definitions, regarding the movie itself - like all good sci-fi it speaks about the world we live in and more specifically about our gadget worshiping culture. We get here two gadgets one is straightforward gadget - mechanical - Japanese namely coming from the country in which gadgets are the new state religion so it's a gadget with a kosher stamp on it. The other gadget is more of an unexplained device, but as far as I'm concerned it works just like a gadget. It performs a very special trick which the movie accepts as true - unbelievable but true - as the movie title's declares. And its being used by one of the leads in the movie just like any other gadget, so that the way I'll refer to it. As a rule - and that's the reason we get two gadgets in the movie so we can establish a rule and not discuss an episode of a sort - gadgets are born from voids in our lives we need to fill - but voids tend to remain empty no matter how much one tries to fill them. Here lies the problem - trying to fill a void can quickly become an addiction and addictions are dangerous.

So if the fact we all know addictions are dangerous means that this movie is predictable - not really - it means that it establishes its own set of rules and quickly demonstrates to us how these rules correspond with the rules we live by and bring about the same results, for me that's not being predictable but rather brilliant script writing. Combine this with very good acting performances with Lea Drucker topping the list, with very efficient camera work that doesn't need any cinematic fireworks but does deliver. And in my personal book you get a near masterpiece. Go see it - Quentin Dupieux is a director to watch.

Up in Flames (you'll see)

[selfdestructo · 8/10 · 21 April 2024]

One thing I've learned from Quentin Dupieux's films, is it's best to go into them totally cold. I knew nothing of Incredible But True, other than it was a Dipeoux creation, and that Arrow Video saw fit to give it a proper Blu-ray release. That's enough for me, knowing his movies carry a totally left-field level of bizarre intrigue. The first movie of his that I saw was Rubber, and I knew I had to see a movie about a killer tire, but at the same time, I would have liked to have known less! And it was still full of WTF surprises, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Ultimately, Incredible But True is about two couples drifting apart... under Dupieux's trademark fantastical plot elements. Of which... I can't go into. One circumstance is particularly hilarious, yet both situations, though surreal, are steeped in the reality of the human condition. This movie has elements of comedy, drama, sci-fi, and fantasy, leaning heavily on all of them, at times. Dialogue is particularly strong, which is something I always enjoy (spoken French, subtitled). Strong performances from all four main actors (oh yeah, the realtor as well), apparently very well-known in France.

The one complaint I have of this film is the final act. I'm not sure why Dupieux leans on brevity in his films. I get that (possibly) he's trying the audience's patience on (possibly) absurd gimmicks. I don't know if he actually feels that way, but I really felt the final act was needlessly carried out in a narrative shorthand. It's a (very) long montage that plays out what happens to the four main characters, and I honestly thought he could've fleshed out this portion of the film properly, to go from an abbreviated 75-minute running time, to a full-length 90-95 minute proper film. Though it concludes on both hands amusingly and poignantly (...and bizarrely), I couldn't help but feel cheated. I felt like I was dropped off a cliff when the credits came up, and had to immediately reevaluate. Not that there was a cliffhanger, or he didn't follow the story through, but you're left with an extended rapid-fire montage that abruptly ends, to process.

I would still highly recommend Incredible But True, as this filmmaker is a true original, with intriguingly out-there ideas, and a proficiency for crackling dialogue. I just disagreed with what he did with the concluding portion of the plot, leaving me a little baffled (and when I should actually be baffled by his oddball concepts!).

Be Careful What You Wish For...

[derek-duerden · 8/10 · 25 January 2024]

Starting with as implausible a premiss as "Mandibles", this follows what logic there is into (in my mind) an interesting set of conclusions. Indeed, there are two separate ridiculous bases to the plot, both of which cause serious implications for the core characters as they follow their dreams and fantasies to unfortunate (or at least disappointing) ends.

There are lots of lovely comic touches throughout and appropriate awkwardness, particularly as the wife's self-image as a supermodel is gradually punctured.

I'm guessing that the core theme is that being happy with one's lot is not necessarily a "failure" and change isn't always for the good - but having this message wrapped up in such bonkers packaging is quite fun, and I'm glad that Quentin is out there doing "not normal" stuff like this alongside more generic fare.

Worth a look.