Vingt Dieux / Holy Cow (Louise Courvoisier), The Bondsman (Prime Video) & A Minecraft Movie (Jared Hess)

Vingt Dieux (or: Holy Cow) is the promising first feature from French filmmaker Louise Courvoisier, who won the Youth Award in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Set around a farm in the Western Alps, Vingt Dieux is a warm and sympathetic coming of age tale, which tells the story of 18-year old Totone (Clement Faveau), who has to provide for his little sister Claire (Luna Garret), after the untimely death of their father.

Up to this initial incident, Totone is your typical teen, interested in girls, booze, riding his motorbike and hanging out with his mates. After the funeral Totone has his work cut out for him. But getting a job is easier than keeping one.

Especially since Totone has already angered some of his co-workers during an easier brawl, initiated by his affinity for Marie-Lise (Maïwene Barthelemy), a young farmer who not only sleeps with him, but also tries to teach him some life lessons about hard work and dedication.

Along the way Totone develops his ambition: he wants to win the top prize in a Cheese competition, which will take care of his financial problems.

Does he know anything about making cheese? No, but it won’t stop him and his mates from trying, even if it involves stuff that could endanger his relationship with Marie-Lise.

Vingt Dieux is beautifully shot, with the Jura landscape (where Courvoisier grew up herself) caught in warm and natural light, adding a distinct visual bonus.

As a director, Courvoisier draws unaffected performances from her cast, which combines professional and non-professional actors.

The screenplay, written by Courvoisier and Théo Abadie, follows a somewhat predictable arc, but the pay-off is not what you might expect, as Totone is on a rather steep learning curve to improve his life and that of his sister’s.

Vieux Dieux is a delightful little movie, that deserves to travel far.

I give it four stars!

Note: After its Cannes premiere, Vingt Dieux (Holy Cow) has played the festival circuit, while also being released theatrically in a fair number of European countries, as well as the United States. This week it is released in Hungary and The Netherlands.

Also released this week:

The Bondsman (Prime Video)

In this eight part series, Kevin Bacon plays the titular character, Hub Halloran, a bounty hunter who gets killed on the job.

As this is a horror comedy, he is not allowed to die. Instead, the bondsman gets a second chance, working for the devil.

The mission: kill all demons, but if he fails, he’s gone for good.

Stuck between a rock and a very hard place, The Kevster tries to make the best of it, all the while trying to reconnect with his ex-wife Mary-Anne (Jennifer Nettles).

At least he gets support from his mom Kitty (Beth Grant), who has her own reasons for being there.

Oh, and being a musician, he also gets to play a lot of country music, so there is that.

Created by Grainger David, this series looks like loads of fun, with a heady mix of comedy capers and plenty of gore.

A Minecraft Movie (Jared Hess, 2025)

Based on the popular video game, the film adaptation is a family friendly affair, starring proven audience pleasers like Jason Momoa (Aquaman) and Jack Black, with the latter bringing the comic energy that helped the Jumanji movies become so successful.

Like the Jumanji films, the youthful (Sebastian Hansen, Emma Meyers) and adult (Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks) protagonists swiftly find themselves transported to another world, to wit: the Overworld, which they have to save from the evil Malgosha (Rachel House).

The movie was written by Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer, and directed by Jared Hess. Based on the trailer, I would say that A Minecraft Movie feels like the fun time at the movies both casual punters and exhibitors have been craving for quite a while now.