We had to wait for a Belgian film, on an American subject filmed in English in Arizona, for German-Luxembourger Vicky Krieps, adopted by French cinema, to deliver, in our eyes, her most impressive performance to date – moreover in the role of an a priori absolutely detestable character. In theaters this Wednesday, the feature film “The Wall”, by Belgian director Philippe Van Leeuw, filmed on the very location of its action, south of Tucson near the border with Mexico, tells the trying daily life of Jessica, an agent of the border police.
Jessica hunts illegal Mexican migrants every day. Very solitary, antisocial, obnoxious, going so far as to kidnap migrants to quickly sleep with them – in order, one supposes, to get pregnant –, undermined by family problems, Jessica is a nervous wreck of existence.
Clearly a supporter of the migration policy dear to Donald Trump, hating illegal immigrants and illegal Mexicans, and trigger-happy, she will be confronted with the worst: she shoots a migrant during an arrest. Accidentally, she defends herself with her teammate, while a witness, a grandfather from a native tribe, affirms that she fired voluntarily. The police will have to determine who is telling the truth…
Beyond this story as tense as it is compact, the strength of “The Wall” lies in this tense portrait of its anti-heroine, and in the incarnation delivered by Vicky Krieps, noted until now for her roles in both arthouse films (“Phantom Thread”, “More than ever”, “Bergman Island”…) as well as major productions like “The Three Musketeers”. Often admired for the gentleness or reserve of her compositions, she is constantly on edge, revolting at times, capable of outbursts that are as frightening as they are violent.
But not only that. If the actress brilliantly interferes in a psychorigid, even psychopathic register, unusual for her – she shows herself to be truly terrifying in certain sequences – she also manages, and this is an immense feat, to sometimes render this figure terrifying, almost touching. Yes, thanks to Vicky Krieps, Jessica comes across as the super villain that she is, but the 41-year-old actress also manages to make us feel sad with this character by evoking, in light touches, all the horrible reasons which could make it like this. A magnificent shocking performance…
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