When it comes to cinema, autumn is without a doubt the most wonderful time of year, with festival titles filling up our watchlists, and getting us excited for the film season ahead. Aptly then, this weekend A Rabbit’s Foot kicked off our inaugural Film Club event, the first in a season that will spotlight buzzy Netflix awards titles with brilliant performances and thought-provoking stories. 

The inaugural screening of Marie Kreutzer’s Gentle Monster took place at BAFTA’s headquarters in Central London, gathering a crowd of young professionals from across the spheres of film, fashion and art. The film, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year, features a knockout performance by Léa Seydoux, a pianist who after moving to the countryside with her family in hope of a new start, is informed by the police of her husband’s dark secrets. 

It’s a powerful film about the psychological process of grieving a relationship, denial, acceptance and the paradox of being in love with someone you cannot trust, as well as being a timely depiction of the female perspective of the abuse of male power. It features impressive supporting performances from the likes of Laurence Rupp and Jella Haase as a police investigator who is in her own male-inflected prison. 

Those in the audience were moved by the film’s grappling with difficult themes. “Chilling, unnerving and steeped in realism, Gentle Monster shows just how close perversion and horror can reside undetected,” said one guest. “A rollercoaster of emotions which leaves you highly disturbed and highly moved. It is beautifully shot with the meaning lying heavy in what isn’t said,” added another. 

Others focused on Seydoux’s performance. “Her work on non-verbal communication is brilliant and brings depth and subtlety to a script which, in less expert hands, could have been overly demonstrative,” said one film critic. “Léa Seydoux is incredibly compelling, able to convey the entire gamut of human emotions. Her performance made Lucy’s desire to believe her husband’s lies, and her slow unravelling of the truth, understandable rather than frustrating.” 

Following the screening, guests headed up the road to Cork Street and Bar Finch, the buzzy new restaurant from our editor-in-chief Charles Finch. Guests enjoyed a hearty, seasonal menu of roast shallot tatin, beef bourguignon and apple crumble, with the cosy interiors making the perfect backdrop to dissect the film further.

Also on the agenda, chef de bar Antoine created a signature cocktail for the film (which will be a recurring feature of the Film Club). Made from dark blackcurrant cordial and hibiscus, the cocktail ‘Second Movement’, was served black tea on the side. Turning the cocktail from gold to deep ruby, it gradually becomes darker and more complex, bitterness and sweetness intermingling. “Beautifully deceptive,” he says. “Just like its inspiration.” 

Gentle Monster will be streaming on Netflix from November 18th.