‘Crescendo’ review: A French opera is rocked by scandal in Agnès Jaoui’s tone-deaf #MeToo satire

Dir. Agnès Jaoui. France. 2026. 134mins

An ambitious staging of The Marriage Of Figaro in a Roman amphitheatre in the South of France is rocked by allegations about one of its main cast members in Agnès Jaoui’s tone-deaf #MeToo satire. In a film that takes a crowbar to generational divides and a sledgehammer approach to gender politics, Jaoui – who also stars as a celebrated soprano – at least takes an equal-opportunities approach to her mockery. The unreconstructed male veterans of the opera world are skewered just as bluntly as the young women who call them out. It’s a film that feels curiously dated, and which lacks the very nuance for which it advocates.

Takes a crowbar to generational divides and a sledgehammer approach to gender politics

Premiering out of competition in Cannes, this is Jaoui’s first directorial venture since her 2018 picture Place Publique. In some ways, it has more in common with her 2004 film Look At Me, which touched on the world of opera and explored gender-based power structures in the arts. It’s a good-looking production which relishes the opportunity to embrace the lavish sets and fabulous costumes of the world of opera. This, plus a noteworthy ensemble cast that also includes Daniel Auteuil, should ensure a warm homeground reception when StudioCanal release in France on May 27. Elsewhere, the picture’s satirical sensibility around hot-button topics might make it tricky to position with audiences. It will likely skew towards older demographics, opera fans and a few anti-woke stragglers.

The problem-plagued ’feminist’ staging of The Marriage Of Figaro is the latest production from the Floral Opera Company, a financially challenged organisation that claims to connect opera to the masses by stunt hiring celebrities as directors. Their latest appointment is fashion influencer and internet star Mirabelle (Claire Chust), whose main artistic contribution is to represent the patriarchy by erecting six massive phallus-shaped columns on the stage.

Mirabelle is regarded with disdain by some of the opera veterans. Hannah, (Jaoui) who sings the role of the countess, mocks Mirabelle’s wispy, unassertive manner of speaking. Temperamental tenor Piazonni (Vincenzo Amato) is aggressive and openly derisive, talking over her when she attempts to give him direction. Conductor Igor (Daniel Auteuil) is more tempered in his responses – he understands the financial implications of her internet clout for an opera company that struggles to pay the bills. Even so, he overrules her on casting decisions.

Most notable of these is the key role of Figaro’s bride, Susanne, played by the ditsy Sophie (Tiphaine Daviot) who can’t get the hang of timing but does have the advantage of being the daughter of one of the opera’s main donors. Cora (Eye Haïdara) has a remarkable voice and is cast by Igor in the male role of Cherubino, but the conservative traditionalist Piazonni dismisses her as a diversity hire. He’s quite the charmer, Piazonni, a blustering bully who has already alienated most of the company even before he is accused of sexually assaulting Sophie during a rehearsal.

The cast and crew is then split into increasingly heated warring factions between those who take Sophie’s claim seriously and call for Piazonni’s sacking and cancellation, and those who argue that he was following the director’s instruction to be physically dominating on stage with his co-star. In the middle are people like harried assistant Clothilde (Lucie Gallo), who feels unable to voice an opinion either way, and Igor, who has his own possible #MeToo bombshell about to explode.

Crescendo is probably well-intentioned, in its own acerbic way, in its attempts to show both sides of the argument. But this kind of balance would work better if the characters weren’t such crude archetypes. Still, Jaoui balances her multi-stranded structure and her large cast with a light touch and jaunty pace. And Mozart’s music, heavily used throughout, brings buoyant charm to this otherwise clunky picture.