Archive · 11 Aug 2026
Léa Seydoux Stars in Marie Kreutzer's Family Drama 'Gentle Monster'
'Gentle Monster' is a movie about a family that seems happy at first.
It tells the story of Lucy, a pianist, her husband Philip, and their young son, who live on a quiet farm in a place called Bavaria.
One day, police arrive at their door with a warrant and take Philip's computer.
On it, they find thousands of pictures that are against the law.
Finding these pictures changes the family's future forever.
The movie comes from director Marie Kreutzer, who also made a film called 'Corsage.'
An actor from 'Corsage' later got into real-life trouble for the same kind of crime.
So Kreutzer made the new movie to explore what happens to a family in that situation.
It is a pretend story, not a true one, but it is inspired by real events.
The movie will be on Netflix starting November 18, after a short run in theaters beginning October 30.
'Gentle Monster,' starring Léa Seydoux, premiered In Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Seydoux plays Lucy, an experimental pianist whose quiet life in a Bavarian farmhouse is shattered when police seize her husband's device and find thousands of child pornography images.
The film is written and directed by Marie Kreutzer and features Catherine Deneuve as Lucy's mother, with Laurence Rupp and Jella Haase also starring.
Kreutzer's drama is a measured fictional account inspired by the arrest of Florian Teichtmeister, who starred in her 2022 film Corsage and pleaded guilty to possessing 76,000 child pornography files.
Netflix acquired the film as Cannes wrapped; it opens in limited release on October 30, begins streaming November 18, and screens at TIFF next month.
- Who
- Léa Seydoux stars as Lucy; the film is written and directed by Marie Kreutzer, with Catherine Deneuve, Laurence Rupp, and Jella Haase in the cast.
- What
- A family drama in which police seize the husband's device and discover thousands of child pornography images, exposing his double life and tearing the family apart.
- When
- Premiered at Cannes in May; screens at TIFF next month; limited theatrical release October 30; Netflix streaming November 18.
- Where
- Cannes (premiere), Toronto (TIFF screening), with the story set in a rural farmhouse in Bavaria.
- Why
- Kreutzer drew on the real 2023 child pornography case of Florian Teichtmeister, who starred in her film Corsage, for a fictional account of a family hit by similar accusations.
- Director
- Marie Kreutzer
- Starring
- Léa Seydoux, Catherine Deneuve, Laurence Rupp, Jella Haase
- Lead Role
- Léa Seydoux as Lucy, an experimental pianist
- Setting
- A rural farmhouse in Bavaria
- Premiere
- In Competition at the Cannes Film Festival
- Limited Release
- October 30
- Netflix Streaming Date
- November 18
- Real-Life Inspiration
- Florian Teichtmeister case: 76,000 files across 22 devices; suspended sentence