A fans- and detractors-only affair. At its worst, it feels like a highbrow transgressive-celebrity-cameo skit.
The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq
Only unmasked kidnappers spell trouble
2014 · 1h 32m · N/A
Comedy, Drama
Directed by
Guillaume Nicloux
Overview
In September 2011 writer Michel Houellebecq briefly disappeared off the face of the earth. Wild rumours began circulating on the Internet that he’d been abducted by Al-Qaeda or aliens from outer space. Some Twitter users even expressed relief that the controversial author was suddenly no longer around. This film now reveals what really happened: Three tough guys variously with impressive hairstyles and bodybuilder physiques carried off the star intellectual, taking him out of the daily stress of dodging autograph hunters and having his flat renovated and bringing him to a beautiful rural underdog idyll, full of dog grooming, bodybuilding demonstrations, junk cars and Polish sausages. But who was to pay the ransom?
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Hilarious, full of humor that is understated, wry and dependent on familiarity with interests as wide as Houellebecq's own.
The Houellebecq we see on screen is obviously rooted as much in fiction as in fact, yet what makes his performance so fascinating is the mischievous glee he takes in sending up his own persona.
A divertingly eccentric, often comically absurd movie about a novelist ... who finds something like happiness after being abducted.
A playful blurring of fact and fiction.
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