The French Riviera has long seduced filmmakers with its promise of crystalline waters, palm-fringed promenades, and golden light that transforms every frame into a postcard. Nicolas Bedos’ 2022 film Mascarade embraces this visual splendor wholeheartedly, yet beneath the sun-drenched glamour lies something far more sinister: a web of deception, longing, and emotional ruin that contrasts sharply with the azure beauty of Nice, Cannes, and Antibes. This is not the lighthearted romp its glossy surfaces suggest, but rather a bittersweet exploration of flawed souls playing dangerous games with hearts and fortunes.
Hearts and Hustlers: A Tangled Web of Affection
At the center of Mascarade is Adrien Salliard, portrayed with brooding vulnerability by Pierre Niney, a former dancer whose career ended abruptly after a motorcycle accident. Now adrift along the Riviera, Adrien survives as the kept companion of Martha Duval, a fading film star played with delicious intensity by Isabelle Adjani. Martha clings to her glamorous past while Adrien endures their arrangement with a mixture of resentment and resignation, watching old films of his benefactress to get through their intimate encounters.
Everything shifts when Adrien meets Margot Hanson, a captivating con artist embodied by Marine Vacth, whose beauty conceals a ruthless pragmatism. The chemistry between them ignites immediately, but both understand the bitter economics of their situation: love alone won’t pay for the lavish lifestyle they crave. Margot has her own scheme underway, seducing Simon Laurenti (François Cluzet), a successful real estate developer who risks abandoning his wife Carole (Emmanuelle Devos) for what he believes is genuine passion.
The film opens with a shocking act of violence: Simon bursting into a hotel suite and shooting Margot, setting a desperate tone that reverberates throughout the subsequent flashback narrative. What follows is a masterclass in moral ambiguity, where the line between victim and villain dissolves like morning mist over the Baie des Anges.
A Director’s Dark Turn
Nicolas Bedos, originally known as an actor, has cultivated an impressive directing career marked by versatility. His debut earned a César nomination, while his tragicomedy about reconstructing the past brought him recognition as best director. After the unexpected comedic detour of directing an OSS 117 installment, Bedos returns to more contemplative territory with Mascarade, though this time the tone is decidedly darker.
Don’t be fooled by the “crime comedy” label: humor is sparse here, appearing only in fleeting moments when the young lovers execute particularly audacious cons or when Margot deploys her comically exaggerated English accent. The two-hour-plus runtime allows Bedos, who also penned the screenplay, to meticulously develop three intertwined relationships: two built on lies and one tragically authentic. Premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, the film presents a sobering portrait of emotional manipulation set against the Riviera’s most photographed landscapes.
Sunlight and Moral Shadows: Cinematography as Character
The visual splendor of Mascarade deserves its own applause. Every corner of Nice becomes a stage for this elaborate charade: Margot and Adrien browse flower stalls at the Cours Saleya, embrace on benches atop Castle Hill, race along the Quai des États-Unis on a motor scooter, and gaze over the Baie des Anges from Cimiez. They even stage a theatrical argument at the observatory, their false drama echoing against the city’s authentic beauty.
One production anecdote captures the film’s daring spirit perfectly. When scouting the customs path toward Coco Beach for a scene where the lovers leap from rocks into the sea, Bedos worried the shallow water made the stunt too dangerous. Location manager Etienne Ochlewsky insisted it was safe, and when challenged to prove it, he simply jumped, his faith immortalized in the finished film.
The luxurious Hotel Royal Riviera in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat serves double duty, first as a restaurant owned by Julia, one of Adrien’s former sponsors struggling with her own betrayal, and later as the backdrop for a magnificently staged scene where Margot and Adrien fabricate an explosive fight to escape their restaurant bill. Martha later attempts to reclaim Adrien’s affections with a romantic boat ride departing from the picturesque harbor of Villefranche-sur-Mer, the Mediterranean sparkling with indifferent beauty as human hearts fracture.
Perhaps the film’s most memorable sequence unfolds on the beaches of Antibes, where Pierre Niney performs an impromptu ballet at sunset, his movements tender and melancholic against the sand while Marine Vacth watches with genuine emotion. Set to composer Anne-Sophie Versnaeyen’s haunting melody “Bienvenue dans nos décors,” the scene creates a pocket of poetry that almost makes us believe in the authenticity of their doomed romance.
Architectural Extravagance: The Palais Bulle
No discussion of Mascarade would be complete without mentioning the Maison Pierre Cardin, better known as the Palais Bulle (Bubble Palace), which serves as Martha’s residence. Perched on the heights of Théoule-sur-Mer, this futuristic villa with its organic, bubble-like architecture provides the perfect setting for an icon like Adjani, capturing both the extravagance and underlying sadness of her character. We observe Martha in various states: irritated over breakfast, tumbling backwards into her magnificent pool, scantily dressed in her private cinema, and elaborately gowned for society parties.
The village of Tourrettes-sur-Loup adds another layer of Mediterranean charm, its cobbled lanes and honey-colored stone providing an intimate backdrop for scenes between Cluzet and Vacth. During location scouting, Bedos discovered that the gallery he knocked on had once belonged to his late father, comedian Guy Bedos, leading to an emotional visit to his father’s writing room. Shortly afterward, the director purchased his own house in the village, cementing his personal connection to these landscapes.
Questions Beneath the Surface
What makes Mascarade linger in memory is not its plot mechanics but its uncomfortable moral questions. Bedos forces us to witness how easily affection can be weaponized, how age and wealth create vulnerabilities that younger, hungrier people exploit without mercy. Yet he also shows us the genuine anguish Simon experiences, making his eventual violence comprehensible if not forgivable. None of these four primary characters emerges unblemished: the young deceive shamelessly, while their older counterparts live in willful delusion.
The film suggests a parable for our times, exploring the chasm between those who have wealth and those who feel entitled to it, between working for security and demanding instant reward. Martha and Simon aren’t merely idle rich; she’s staging a professional comeback while he maintains ethical building standards, yet their success makes them targets.
For travelers and cinema lovers who cherish the Mediterranean’s artistic soul, Mascarade offers dual pleasures: a guided tour through the Côte d’Azur’s most seductive locations and a meditation on the masks we wear, the lies we tell, and the moments when genuine feeling breaks through our carefully constructed facades. The film reminds us that even in the sunniest places, shadows fall, and that sometimes the most beautiful landscapes frame the darkest human dramas.
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