Let the Corpses Tan

"Who shall live and who shall die?!"

2017 1h 32m FR

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 161

CrimeWesternHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

With a heavy haul of 250 kilograms of gold bullion, the grizzled criminal mastermind, Rhino, and his ruthless gang of cutthroats, head to a ramshackle retreat somewhere in the Mediterranean to lay low on a scorching day of July. However, the unexpected and rather unwelcome arrival of the bohemian writer, Bernier, his muse, Luce, along with a pair of no-joke gendarmes further complicates things, as the frail allegiances will soon be put to the test.

“Who shall live and who shall die?!”

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Cast

Elina Löwensohn
Luce
Stéphane Ferrara
Rhino
Bernie Bonvoisin
La Brute
Hervé Sogne
Le policier
Marine Sainsily
La nounou
Marc Barbé
Max Bernier
Marilyn Jes
La policière
Michelangelo Marchese
Avocat

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Hélène Cattet
Writers: Bruno Forzani, Hélène Cattet
Languages: French
Countries: Belgium, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 9 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Belgium, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Hélène Cattet, shot by Manuel Dacosse. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Bernard Beets shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Elina Löwensohn and Stéphane Ferrara and Bernie Bonvoisin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Who shall live and who shall die?!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt5827212 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Hélène Cattet directs. Manuel Dacosse behind the camera. Bernard Beets cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Belgium, France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 9 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: Belgium, France.
3Directed by Hélène Cattet, shot by Manuel Dacosse. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Bernard Beets shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Elina Löwensohn and Stéphane Ferrara and Bernie Bonvoisin carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Who shall live and who shall die?!".
7IMDB entry: tt5827212 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 14 themes, including "gold", "based on novel or book", "surrealism", "heist".

The technical file

Cinematography: Manuel Dacosse
Editing: Bernard Beets
Production design: Alina Santos
Costume design: Jackye Fauconnier
Makeup / hair: David Scherer
Stunt coordinator: Stéphane Margot
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
IMDB: Let the Corpses Tan (2017)

Awards

Magritte Award for Best Cinematography

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Hélène Cattet

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-11-20
★ 6/10
Having just appropriated almost a quarter of a ton of gold bullion, “Rhino” (Stéphane Ferrara) and his gang of hoodlums know they are going to have to lie low for a few months until the dust settles and they can smelt the whole lot down (and not into Eiffel Towers, neither) and literally liquidate their ill-gotten asset. The snag proves to be, though, that their hideaway has also attracted some other unexpected occupants. Namely eccentric writer “Bernier” (Marc Barbé) who has his stimulating and glamorous moll “Luce” (Elina Löwensohn) in tow, and there are also a couple of trigger-happy gendarmes nearby too. Rapidly, this hitherto peaceful island begins to become an emotionally and sexually charged location where all we really need is some Ennio Morricone music and a guest appearance from Eli Wallach. That’s maybe the issue I had with this. Although the photography is gorgeous, the sea azure and the house it’s very own little fortress, this is really just an amalgam of so many films that have been done before - and better. It’s actually too short to do very much in the way of character development and so has an almost video game feel to it as the tensions mount and we find out who is the better shot. Moreover, it hasn’t any subtlety. It’s in your face fury right from the start, there’s very little by way of humour and neither the acting nor the dialogue really do enough to distinguish this in any way nor make us care whether anyone survives or not. At least there’s the aptly named “Brute” (Bernie Bonvoisin) to liven things up but overall I was really quite disappointed with the lack of imagination and the sheer force of this film.

Production companies