MARGUERITE Trailer

How far can wealth take you? Really far, it turns out. Loosely based on the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, Marguerite follows a passionate but terrible opera singer who funds her own career. In real life, Jenkins eventually bought her way into New York City’s prestigious Carnegie Hall, inadvertently shedding light on how corrupt art can be. The film doesn’t have to dig far to find hilarity in this story, but it doesn’t shy away from the sadness of the situation, either.

Perhaps, like me, you’ve had a friend or loved one that worked towards something they were simply bad at. What did you tell them when they showed up with pride on their face and gave you complete trash? What about when they started taking it to professionals? Your options at this point are complete rubbish, with all of them ending in disappointment and pain.

Humor helps you get through difficult situations like this, but Marguerite will have to avoid being mean-spirited if the film is to be honest about what happened. Reactions to its festival screenings have been positive, so this oddball French film will likely be worth checking out.

If you need more convincing, then search it out as a companion piece to the U.K.’s version coming out later in 2016. Simply titled Florence Foster Jenkins, it landed Meryl Streep in the titular role, but don’t waste the opportunity to see two European takes on this bizarrely American story.

Marguerite is directed by Xavier Giannoli and stars Catherine Frot, André Marcon, and Michel Fau. It will be released in the U.S. on March 11th, 2016 and in the U.K. on March 18th, 2016. For international release dates, click here.

The French and the English are at it again, with the silliness of the Americans firmly in their crosshairs. Who do you think will lampoon the situation best?