The Accusation (2021 film)

The Accusation (Les Choses humaines) is a 2021 French courtroom drama film directed by Yvan Attal. The screenplay, written by Attal and Yaël Langmann, is an adaptation of the 2019 novel Les Choses humaines by Karine Tuil. It had its world premiere on 9 September 2021 at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, and was released in France by Gaumont Film Company on 1 December 2021.

Plot
Alexandre Farel is the son of a prominent television presenter, Jean Farel. Claire, his mother, left Jean and lives with Adam Wizman, who is also separated from his Orthodox Jewish wife, with whom he has a daughter, Mila. When Alexandre returns from finishing his studies in the United States, he accompanies his mother for an evening and meets Mila. Together, they go to a party for the former students of Lycée Henri-IV. The next day, the police arrest Alexandre, who has been accused of rape by Mila. He denies the charge and argues that the act was consensual. The event sends the families into a breakdown as their lives are torn apart by the trial.

Production
The screenplay is inspired by the novel Les Choses humaines by Karine Tuil, published in the summer of 2019, which notably won the Prix Interallié and the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens. Karine Tuil herself was inspired by a news story that occurred on the Stanford University campus (the 2015 rape case of Stanford student Brock Turner) to write the novel.

Yvan Attal directs his partner Charlotte Gainsbourg in the film as well as their son, Ben Attal — both of whom already starred in his previous film, My Dog Stupid, released in 2019.

Principal photography began in August 2020. Filming especially took place in the courthouse of Créteil (Val-de-Marne). Filming took place in Paris until 7 November 2020.

Release
The Accusation had its world premiere on 9 September 2021 at the 78th Venice International Film Festival. The film was also screened at 47th Deauville American Film Festival on 11 September 2021. It was theatrically released in France by Gaumont Film Company on 1 December 2021.

Box office
The film sold 182,074 admissions in France, grossing a domestic total of $1.3 million.

Critical response
The Accusation received an average rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 28 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10.

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The film tends to overstay its welcome, mostly because Attal doesn't know when to cut a scene short, or otherwise cut away, and let us think for ourselves".