Arrested on his wedding day for a crime he didn’t commit, Edmond Dantes spends fourteen years in prison. After a daring escape, he becomes the wealthy Count of Monte-Cristo and seeks revenge on the three men who betrayed him. This big-budget French adaptation of the Gothic fiction classic is a robustly entertaining spectacle and a massive hit in its home country following its rousing premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
“Everything about this robust and very enjoyable retelling of the Alexandre Dumas classic is epic in scale: from the lavish sets and the orchestral score to the bold performances and the hefty running time. But it is an epic approach that is well-earned...This is a devilishly handsome old-school tale of treachery and intrigue that zips through its nearly three hours in a blur of swordplay, glorious costumes and prosthetic rubber facial disguises.” –Wendy Ide, Screen Daily “Scenes roll by swiftly and broadly in a way the directors, like Bourboulon, honed on contemporary commercial comedies. These are not complaints. THE COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO plays, as Dumas likely always intended, as a grand, to-the-gallery entertainment, more hearty than soulful, with a barrelling narrative drive not suited to subtler artistry. In France, it’s been the kind of summer smash that lures even once-a-year cinemagoers to the big screen – a comforting reminder that the old ways are still good for a few years yet.” –Guy Lodge, BFI “You may wonder what new gems are left to mine in this oft-told tale, but this latest version, from writer-filmmaker duo Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière, is a compelling update, with violence and eroticism galore…. This COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO not only justifies its running time, but shows that you can teach an old dog new tricks, with a refreshingly modern psychological take on the classic tale of love and revenge.” —Christina Newland, inews.co (UK) “Nothing here is remotely believable, which is the pleasure of it. Sit back and abandon yourself to the full weight of Dumas’s 18 volumes of derring-do.” —Stephanie Bunbury, Financial Times
