Based on the classic existentialist novel by Albert Camus, François Ozon’s 2025 take follows Meursault, our detached hero, through 1938 French Algeria as he is confronted with passionate love and murder most foul with only indifference to fall back on. BFI’s review calls the iconic character a “refusenik, unwilling or unable to produce the conventional signs and declarations – of love, of mourning – that would qualify him as a proper citizen.” Many of you can relate, I’m sure. Ozon reveals the text’s queer undertones and resurfaces the Algerian characters beyond Camus’ novel or Luchino Visconti’s more blinkered 1967 adaptation starring Marcello Mastroianni. A contemporary take on existentialism might just resonate perfectly in these dissociative times. – Lina Fisher
