Mandibles

2021 1h 17m FR

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 633

ComedyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When two simple-minded best friends find a giant fly trapped in the trunk of a stolen car, they decide to train it in hopes of striking it rich.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Grégoire Ludig
Manu / Fred Breton
David Marsais
Jean-Gab
Adèle Exarchopoulos
Agnès
India Hair
Cécile
Roméo Elvis
Serge
Coralie Russier
Sandrine
Bruno Lochet
Gilles
Raphaël Quenard
Raimondo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Quentin Dupieux
Writers: Quentin Dupieux
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 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 77-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 42% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Belgium, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Quentin Dupieux, shot by Quentin Dupieux. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Quentin Dupieux. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Quentin Dupieux directs. Quentin Dupieux behind the camera. Quentin Dupieux scores. Quentin Dupieux cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Belgium, France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 77-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $4.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Earned back only 42% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
4Released 5 years ago.
5International production across 2 countries: Belgium, France.
6Directed by Quentin Dupieux, shot by Quentin Dupieux. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Quentin Dupieux. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Quentin Dupieux shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Grégoire Ludig and David Marsais and Adèle Exarchopoulos carry the top of the cast.
10IMDB entry: tt10375106 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Quentin Dupieux
Original score: Quentin Dupieux
Editing: Quentin Dupieux
Production design: Joan Le Boru
Costume design: Isabelle Pannetier
Makeup / hair: Sophie Benaiche
Stunt coordinator: Serge Beuchat
Runtime: 77 min · 1h 17m
Status: Released
Budget: $4,900,000
Box office: $2,044,087
Return: 42% of budget
Original language: FR
IMDB: Mandibles (2021)

Awards

Sitges Film Festival Best Actor award

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

Also by

Quentin Dupieux

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Chris Sawin2021-07-27
★ 5/10
Quentin Dupieux has always made strange films that usually can’t be categorized as anything other than bizarre. His filmmaking career seems to have culminated with Deerskin, which is his funniest and most coherent film to date. Mandibles feels like a withdrawn version of Dupieux though. There’s a giant fly, but we don’t see enough of her as we’re subjected to two morons trying to get a free pass on life. Its attempts at humor fall flat and it’s impossible to sympathize with or find any sort of entertaining qualities in any of the characters. Mandibles is really only going to be for hardcore fans of Dupieux’s other works. The average lifespan of a female house fly is 25 days, which is about three weeks longer than Mandibles will stay relevant in the public eye. Full review: https://hubpages.com/entertainment/Mandibles-2021-Review-An-Unfunny-and-Aimless-Comedy
CinemaSerf2026-09-27
★ 7/10
There's not much in it, but "Jean-Gab" (David Marsais) is the marginally brighter of a pairing with his best pal "Manu" (Grégoire Ludig) who have been given a simple task by their boss for which they'll get 500 Euros. How hard can it be? All they have to do is drive. Well on their way, they start to hear a strange noise coming from the boot of their car. Stopping and opening it, they discover a fly the size of a family dog snoozing inside. Innovatively, they decide that if they can train this beastie, it could be far more use to them that the money they'd been promised for the job - so in best "A-Team" tradition, they come up with a scheme. Of course that doesn't go to plan as even they couldn't haven't predicted that "Manu" would be mistaken by passing travellers to be one of their former boyfriends and invited to stay at their holiday villa. "Cécile" (India Hair) seems convinced that "Fred" - minus a certain tattoo - is her ex-beau, but the hyper-sensitive "Agnès" (Adèle Exarchopoulos) is convinced that they are up to something "fishy". Now they have to find a way to train their (now quite peckish) fly, obtain a dog, and not get rumbled - oh, and their employer is looking for some explanations too. This is anything but predictable as these two nice-but-dim characters manage to keep this on the right side of farce for an eighty minutes that marries the silliness of the "Carry On" films with a little more psychologically based humour and, of course, a soupçon of David Croneberg as well. There's an amiable chemistry between Ludig and Marsais; Exarchopoulos manages to deliver a character that exasparates and entertains in equally quirky measure and it's good to know that the BBCs props department has put some old "Dr. Who" insects to good use, too. This is a good example of a director letting his characters and the writing do the work with a minimum of distraction and by keeping things tight, it's really quite good fun to watch.