Vincent Must Die


Vincent Must Die is a 2023 French-Belgian satirical black comedy thriller film, directed by Stéphan Castang in his feature-length directorial debut.

Plot

Vincent is a graphic designer in Lyon who finds that everyone, starting with his coworkers but soon expanding out into the wider community, suddenly wants to kill him for no obvious reason. He eventually meets Margaux, a waitress who seems to be the only person not out to kill Vincent. Later when he tries to drive away with her, he hears of a plague on the radio, and sees a pile of cars with people who have gotten out and try to kill each other.

Release

The film premiered in the Critics' Week program at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'World Cinema' section and was screened on 7 October 2023.
It was theatrically released in France on 15 November 2023 by Capricci Films.
An English dub made using artificial intelligence was released in the United States on 31 October 2025 by XYZ Films as part of a double feature release, paired with Hallow Road.

Reception

Critical response

Damon Wise of Deadline Hollywood reviewed the film positively, writing that "for all its deadpan humor — an altercation by an open sewer goes exactly the way you think/hope it might — Vincent Must Die is a really rather thoughtful film about the minefield of microaggressions that await us all. You can read the set-up as a metaphor for office politics, and the rest of it as allegory for the internecine nature of social media, where the mildest of opinions can ruin lives and reputations. Most of all, though, it is a joyfully absurdist tale of everyday alienation writ large. If Samuel Beckett had scripted Shaun of the Dead, it might have looked something like this."
Fabien Lemercier of Cineuropa wrote that "careering along at top speed and punctuated by fights which are all the more hellish for the fact the individuals involved don't have a liking for fights and they break out in the most unseemly of places, Vincent Must Die injects much needed dark humour into a razor-sharp, pre-apocalyptic societal portrait. Carried by the formidable talent of its lead actor, and wonderfully enveloped by Manu Dacosse's photography and John Kaced's music, the film sucks the viewer into its many twists and turns, releasing enough in its uncompromising wake to make us reflect upon the state of the modern world. It's a highly promising prototype from an exciting new generation of French filmmakers who cite Carpenter and Romero among their sources of inspiration."
Christian Zilko of IndieWire was more dismissive, grading the film B− and opining that "Castang and screenwriter Mathieu Naert seem to tease us with the multitude of exciting paths that the film could go down before ultimately choosing the least interesting one. Instead of continuing with the dark comedy or fleshing out the mythology of The Sentinel, they take the darkest route and leave us with something that begins to resemble a generic zombie movie by the end. The natural response to the first few dozen attempts on Vincent's life is righteous indignation at the poor man's mistreatment. But after an hour and a half, it's fair to wonder if the possessed mob is onto something."

Accolades

At the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival, the film received a special mention from the Cheval Noir award jury.
AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipientResult
Cannes Film Festival27 May 2023Caméra d'OrStéphan CastangNomitated
César Awards23 February 2024Best First FilmVincent Must DieNomitated
Louis Delluc Prize6 December 2023Best First FilmVincent Must DieNomitated
Lumière Awards22 January 2024Best ActorKarim LeklouNomitated
Lumière Awards22 January 2024Best First FilmVincent Must DieNomitated
Magritte Awards9 March 2024Best Foreign Film in CoproductionVincent Must DieWon
Magritte Awards9 March 2024Best SoundDirk Bombey, Emilie Mauguet, Xavier Thieulin and Bertrand BoudaudNomitated