The City of Fear, the French comedy comédie française written and brought to life by Les Nuls, joins the Prime Video catalog on September 1, 2026. Directed by Alain Berbérian, the 1994 film reunites Chantal Lauby, Alain Chabat and Dominique Farrugia in a deliberately absurd police investigation staged in the middle of the Cannes Film Festival.
Odile Deray, the press officer portrayed by Chantal Lauby, works to promote Red Is Dead, a low-budget, cult-style horror flick that Cannes glossed over at its premiere. The tide turns when a projectionist is killed in the same way as the film's victims. Seizing the moment, Odile decides to turn the case into a media circus to grab headlines.
She brings in Simon Jérémi, the star of Red Is Dead played by Dominique Farrugia, and appoints Serge Karamazov, the bodyguard played by Alain Chabat, as his aide. As the murders mount, Commissioner Patrick Bialès, portrayed by Gérard Darmon, takes charge of an investigation where suspects, clues and red herrings pile up.
La Cité de la peur simultaneously defies the conventions of the crime thriller, horror cinema, and productions devoted to serial killers. Its setting also lets it riff on the rituals of the Festival de Cannes, from screenings and press conferences to hotels, the red carpet, and the scramble for media visibility.
The screenplay is credited to Chantal Lauby, Alain Chabat and Dominique Farrugia, the trio from Les Nuls. Their writing hinges on a string of parodies, tonal shifts, and scenes built as sketches, all woven into a crime narrative that runs as the through-line.
Centered on the leading trio, the film's cast includes Gérard Darmon, Sam Karmann and Valérie Lemercier, with cameos from Jean-Pierre Bacri, Tchéky Karyo, Daniel Gélin, Eddy Mitchell, Pierre Lescure and Rosanna Arquette. It also received a 4K restoration for its theatrical re-release in 2019 to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
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