Stronger Than the Devil hits theaters on March 25, 2026. This film, rated for audiences 12 and up with a warning, marks Graham Guit’s return to feature-length fiction after seventeen years, since Hello Goodbye. The director reunites Melvil Poupaud, Asia Argento, and Marine Vacth in a thriller-comedy centered around an absent father who suddenly reenters the life of his adult son, with immediate repercussions for everyone around him.
Valentin, a man lost and broke, reconnects with Joseph after twenty years apart, dragging him—and his wife Alice—into a spiraling chaos. Alongside them, JP, Mila, and Gigi drift through a tale woven with tension, family upheaval, and dark humor, set against the backdrop of a fractured father-son relationship.
The film premiered at the Montreal New Cinema Festival in 2025 and was later chosen for the Angers First Plans Festival in 2026. It also signifies a reunion between Graham Guit and Melvil Poupaud, who previously worked together on The Sky Is Ours and The Kidnappers. This new collaboration is part of a more personal project, exploring themes of fatherhood and featuring an openly autobiographical touch in its writing.
Stronger Than the Devil continues Graham Guit’s signature cinematic style, with a penchant for unstable characters, fractured journeys, and family dramas under strain. Its tight, one-week timeline promises a tense, fast-paced film that focuses on the ripple effects triggered by this unexpected return.
Our Take on Stronger Than the Devil
Stronger Than the Devil, directed by Graham Guit, presents itself as a boldly chaotic black comedy that flirts with absurd thriller and dysfunctional family drama. Led by Melvil Poupaud, Asia Argento, Marine Vacth, and especially a notably intense Nahuel Perez Biscayart, the film opts from the start for disorder, tonal shifts, and a storytelling style that favors instability over traditional rigor. The result is quite distinctive within the French cinematic landscape: a piece built less like a polished narrative and more like a collision of battered characters, conflicting impulses, and a deliberate taste for discomfort.
The film’s primary strength lies precisely in this bold approach to tone. Graham Guit isn’t interested in smoothing out his universe or putting the audience at ease. He captures a band of misfits—marginal, broken, often unable to save themselves, let alone others. This wounded humanity injects the film with its most unique energy. There’s evident pleasure in watching situations spiral out of control, relationships pushed to their breaking point, and absurdity gradually seeping into reality.
With its fondness for the absurd, its marginalized characters, and its intentionally unstable storytelling, Stronger Than the Devil calls to mind both the gritty cinema of Bertrand Blier, especially Cold Buffet, and contemporary absurd comedies by Quentin Dupieux, while occasionally flirting with the dark irony characteristic of the Coen Brothers.
Amid this organized chaos, Nahuel Perez Biscayart emerges as the film’s true revelation. Remarkable in his portrayal of JP, he infuses the character with nervous energy, vulnerability, and an eerie presence that immediately captures the viewer’s attention. When the film risks losing its grip in its own disorder, his presence provides a grounding point. His performance perfectly aligns with the film’s essence: unpredictable, unstable, always on the edge. It’s he who lends the story a tenderness and depth that transcend mere stylistic provocation.
The rest of the cast fully embraces this volatile tone as well. Melvil Poupaud, Asia Argento, and Marine Vacth contribute to this delicate balancing act between irony, unease, and emotional upheaval. All seem to understand that the film only works if it refuses to be entirely comfortable. The downside is that this daring approach can lead it to feel disjointed, sometimes more freewheeling than expertly controlled.
This is where Stronger Than the Devil might divide opinions. Its dark, absurd humor doesn’t land consistently, and the blend of biting comedy with thriller tension feels uneven. Some scenes strike with their audacity, while others give off the impression of improvisation, risking a loss of impact. This fragmentation isn’t inherently a flaw but requires viewers to accept an experience that never charts a straightforward course.
Therefore, the film primarily appeals to a discerning audience—those attuned to the most liberated forms of auteur cinema, with unstable characters, irregular narratives, and European black comedies that prefer discomfort over instant charm. Fans of tightly structured stories, clear dramatic arcs, or sharper humor might find themselves at a distance. Here, the appeal lies more in a sensation of drifting, chaos, and ongoing relational turbulence than in conventional storytelling.
Stronger Than the Devil isn’t a film that seeks to be traditionally likable, nor does it aim for universal success. But it has a distinctive identity, a roughness, and its own peculiar way of bringing its disturbed characters to life. Quirky, chaotic, sometimes uneven, it derives strength from what it refuses to impose. A twisted black comedy that’s not always convincing but is rich enough in atmosphere to leave a lasting impression on viewers willing to embrace its turbulence.
Stronger Than the Devil | Film | 2026
In theaters: March 25, 2026
Comedy, Thriller | Duration: 1h24
Directed by Graham Guit | Starring Melvil Poupaud, Asia Argento, Marine Vacth
Original title: Plus forts que le diable
Country: France
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