Farahani Shines in Pariser's 'One Minute to Midnight' — SkimNews
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- "One Minute to Midnight" is a Parisian drama directed by Nicolas Pariser starring Melvil Poupaud as Léo, a 49-year-old former culture writer who stays in Paris after his Italian biological father's death to confront his past with old colleagues from a turn-of-the-century culture magazine.
- Golshifteh Farahani plays Tina, the magazine's "abnormally beautiful" muse whom the review singles out as the film's most transcendent performer, with scenes in which she refuses Léo's romanticism and tells him to get over "masculine self-pity."
- Anaïs Demoustier plays Armelle, a former intern turned Socialist politician, in scenes where Léo asks whether their past affair constituted an abuse of power and she replies, "I'm not angry with you. It doesn't mean what happened to us was right or normal."
- Clara Pacini plays Léo's 19-year-old activist daughter Emma, caught up in police-riot clashes in the Paris suburbs; the review notes the film ends "in the hands of young Emma and her generation" — a choice it calls "a sensitive cop-out."
- The review criticizes the film as "too talky," arguing "this could have been an article, or perhaps a play," because most scenes are simply two people talking while walking or sitting still.
- The critic links the film to other Venice 2026 competition entries — "Wild Horse Nine," "Ink," "The Basics of Philosophy," and possibly Casey Affleck's "Company" — as part of a cluster grappling with "passive guilt at the state of the world."
- "One Minute to Midnight" premiered at the 2026 Venice Film Festival before playing TIFF and is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
Why it matters: A Venice 2026 competition entry still seeking U.S. distribution, "One Minute to Midnight" joins a cluster of festival films — "Wild Horse Nine," "Ink," and "The Basics of Philosophy" — that this critic groups as wrestling with "passive guilt" and male accountability, a recurring theme across this year's competition lineup.
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