Southern Gothic – As this episode of Cannes Confidential begins, Yanice (Camille Moutawakil) performs a séance in hopes of contacting Mrs. Babette Fontaine. They hear a thud in the distance and think it could be Mrs. Fontaine. Francois Fontaine (Vincent Nemeth) interrupts to ask Pascal and Denise what is going on. Once he learns what they’re doing, he asks them to leave. One of them ends up running from the house while screaming for someone to get away from him. Two guys explore an abandoned house that was supposedly burned down by a woman who went nuts. They find a man hanging from his neck in the middle of the building.

Harry King (Jamie Bamber) dreams about Emilie. Camille Delmasse (Lucie Lucas) hears someone in her house so she grabs a handgun only to find Harry cooking in the kitchen. He tells her that he might’ve found a witness who is willing to talk. He has arranged a meeting by the bandstand at the Old Port at 3 PM. Margaux (Anna Franziska Jaeger) finds them on the floor because Harry needed to remove a listening device. Lea calls Camille to tell her they’ve found a dead body at Chateau Fontaine. Camille and Harry leave the house. They stop to talk about the listening device and the fact that Boire has heard everything she has said. Harry has had suspicions since her brief encounter with Boire.

That’s why he has always been one step ahead of them. Harry asks her about the name of the company that paid these guys. She says Suis-Yola. Harry points out that it spells and reads “Aloysius” when it is spelled backwards. Camille claims that doesn’t mean anything to her. He admits that he made up the witness bit. Camille tells Harry to stay back before she joins Lea and Ramzy (Sammy Lechea) inside Chateau Fontaine. Lea reveals that the victim’s name is Pascal Fontaine and his wallet was still there. Ramzy says it was not suicide. They find Veritas scrawled on the wall. Harry reminds them that Pascal’s mother was Babette Fontaine who was the famous concerto pianist. She burned the whole place to the ground a long time ago.

The family moved to a villa in the hills. Lea says the Fontaine family lived there for generations. A string of mysterious deaths convince them that they were cursed. When Camille asks why he came back there, Lea says it looks like punishment. Ramzy notices two marks on Pascal’s neck and says he wasn’t killed there. They find a clump of human hair in Pascal’s hand. Harry is told to stay outside when Camille and Lea arrive to speak to the family members. Lea tells Camille that the dad, Francois, was a conductor at the concert house. Georges is a history teacher at the local college. Pascal was in IT and worked at a software company. Aunt Denise runs a local restaurant. When they speak to Francois, he says his family is cursed.

He complains about the séance. They hear Georges (Thomas Alden) scream upstairs and a crash so they rush up to investigate. Georges blames the curse. Camille sees a broken mirror with “Memento Mori” written on it. Ramzy finds similar hair so he is asked to swab every séance participant for a hair match. Georges admits there was a séance although he doesn’t believe in such nonsense. Nevertheless, he could feel something change in the house. Pascal seemed fine and was working on his ridiculous animations. He moved back a month ago, but he had a flat downtown. Pascal came back because he wanted to study the family curse up close. Georges loved their mother dearly, but he didn’t share her passion or have any of her talents. He teaches history instead. Denise Barbier (Constance Dolle) comes in to check on him.

They speak to Denise who says she doesn’t live there although she has always remained close. Denise explains that Babette could see no wrong in Pascal. Georges was younger and needed her, but she had her own problems. Denise confirms she was there for the séance which was Pascal’s idea. They tried it at the medium’s place first but it didn’t work. They tried it at the house next time against Francois’s wishes. Denise reveals that Babette was committed to a mental institution for 15 years and she took her life there. Lea goes outside to ask Harry about the message written on the mirror. Harry explains that it means, “remember you must die”. Camille checks in with Lea before the latter leaves. Harry asks Camille about the portrait of Babette in the house.

Once he sees it, he asks whether the diamonds are Romanov’s. Denise says they were a gift from Grand Duchess Maria who smuggled them out of Russia during the revolution. Francois interrupts to say no one knows where the diamonds are now. It is believed they were destroyed in the fire or stolen. Once they leave, Camille tells Harry to get a cab since his bike is stuck at her place. He reminds her about the meeting at 3 PM. When Genevieve arrives, she tells Camille that she was at the séance because she has been the Fontaines’ lawyer for years. Plus, she hates self-proclaimed mediums. Genevieve gives Camille Yanice’s card. Camille wants Gene to tell her father she has a lead on Julien Boire since he is the one forcing him to take the fall.

At the station, Lea and the others go through their evidence and suspects. Camille wants to check out the medium while Lea says they should also look at Georges. Ramzy tells them how a scientist managed to extract DNA from a rootless hair. Regardless, there was no match to anyone at the séance. Ramzy confirms that both samples came from the same source. Camille questions why a guy working in IT doesn’t work a computer. Lea will search his apartment while Camille speaks to Yanice. Camille meets Harry to see what he knows about mediums. Harry tells her that mediums study and learn everything they can about their marks. Once they meet Yanice, she calls herself a seer.

Pascal hired her although he was afraid when he first saw her. Denise was curious about Babette’s fate while Pascal was mostly sad. Yanice explains how she uses her body as a vessel for communication. She believes Camille has trouble letting people in. Camille wants her financial statements and everything else. Lea searches Pascal’s flat. She calls Camille to tell her that someone turned the place upside down. Someone used a key. She founds a related article on the Fontaines when she searched the city records. Pascal was looking for the same article months ago. Francois is having an auction this weekend and everything is about to go. Camille meets Lea in person to tell her she was bugged by Julien Boire who has been extorting her father.

They’re meeting the witness in 30 minutes. Camille admits that is what she wanted to discuss with her. Gene visits Philippe (Jean-Hugues Anglade) to ask him about Julien. He hopes his daughter will let it go now, but Gene says she won’t rest until she gets answers. Gene tells him not to act like he cares because it is too late for that. Lea learns they’re going to meet a pretend witness and they want her to be that witness. They put the plan into action and Julien (Hugo Brunswick) takes the bait. Julien walks over and shoots Lea before fleeing. Since Lea was wearing a bulletproof vest, she is fine. After Julien escapes, he calls Camille to suggest she likes to play. He says she is a disappointment like her father. Julien calls her Camybear. Julien asks someone in his vehicle to find out who Harry is.

At the station, Camille and Lea try to figure out who was in the vehicle with Julien using CCTV footage. Ramzy says he has DNA on the hair although he isn’t sure whether it is good or bad. It was Babette’s hair. Nina (Nancy Tate) isn’t impressed with the evidence they bring to her. She wants them to find more before she’ll give them a search warrant. Later, Lea tells Camille that Yanice’s financials came back clean. Camille learned from the high school’s headmaster that Georges was fired five months ago. She wants someone to check his apartment. Camille calls Gene to tell her about him being fired because of assault charges despite the fact there is no trace on the records. Gene says there wouldn’t be. Harry goes back to the house and Denise lets him look at the painting.

She admits she became the mother of those poor lost boys. Harry says she never married Francois. Denise says her sister never knew because she didn’t have the heart to tell her when she visited her in the asylum. Harry knows Pascal was an artist of NFTs. At the station, Camille and Lea talk about Georges being fired for assaulting two students who were ridiculing his crazy mother. They settled to keep things quiet. Ramzy tells them about NFTs. He noticed transactions on Yanice’s records two days before Pascal’s death. They’re worth a fortune after his death, but Yanice has an alibi. Lea believes that is enough for a search warrant. They go to the house and tell Francois about the search warrant. Harry is told to stay out of the way while they search the house.

Harry asks Francois about the necklace while Camille learns the house has a basement. Harry thinks the fire sale is only for show. When they go into the basement, Camille and Lea find a hidden room. Denise admits she didn’t watch a movie with Georges on the night of Pascal’s disappearance. They find a laptop with NFTs. Camille tells Lea to call it in and send a warrant for Georges’s arrest. Denise asks them not to hurt Georges because he is a good boy. When Camille is alone, she is attacked by Georges who tries to strangle her. Harry arrives and hits Georges. He tells her that she has her man again. Lea returns and handcuffs him before Harry leaves. Lea hugs Camille and they kiss. Lea goes with Georges when he is taken away in a police car. Julien calls Camille to say there is someone there who wants to speak to Harry.

When Harry takes the phone, he is shown a video of Emilie who is asking for help.

 

Cannes Confidential Review

This episode of Cannes Confidential fell in line with the previous episodes with the investigation being thin and the ending being rushed. While the series remains watchable, it hasn’t done enough to be anything other than mediocre. The performances aren’t necessarily bad, but the need to speak English probably hasn’t done anyone any favors.

It hasn’t been easy to build a relationship with any of the characters so there is no real concern when they find themselves in dangerous situations. It is also hard to genuinely care about Philippe and whether he is going to get out of prison. The chemistry between the main characters is a bit weird so it is untelling where the romance aspect is headed.

Despite these issues, the writing and weak stories in each episode are what make the episode mediocre. Camille and Lea rarely investigate anything and usually just stumble into solutions. If there was more depth, the series probably could’ve been better. Other than that, the series is competently made, the cast is trying hard, and the scenery is nice.

It is watchable if viewers are willing to just skim the surface and not look too far beneath that. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Cannes Confidential can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.