Mathieu Denis’s Gagne ton ciel (The Cost of Heaven) plays as a languidly paced Uncut Gems shot through a David Fincher lens as a story of how the pursuit of the high life often tests and tempts. With the need to keep up appearances in an age when social status is all-encompassing, the methods and the limits employed in its hunt seldom lead to the bright side of the road. Their inevitable destination is rack and ruin.
Samir Guesmi is Nacer Belkacem, a man whose life hangs in the balance. He’s a risk-taker under the noses of his family and friends. All to an end, as Nacer wants a better life, a nice home, a nice car, the appearance of wealth, and by extension, the respect that goes along with it.
The only problem is that Nacer is behind. While he is fronting that everything is fine and dandy, beneath the bullshit is a growing financial crisis that will see everything he does and each person he interacts with become a chess piece in a do-or-die match. Should he win, he’ll win big. But the problem for some people is that they never know when they’ve won. All too frequently, they find themselves in a constant state of envy.
Nacer wants the lifestyle described by the name-it-and-claim-it podcast prophets that promise wealth and success in all facets of life as long as you manifest those thoughts into actions. Effectively transforming yourself into a successful individual with the power of thought.
“… As his financial woes deepen, he is forced into new cheating …”
But Nacer has the opposite of the Midas touch, and bad luck to boot. As his financial woes deepen, he is forced into new cheating to cover up the old cheating. The only issue with that is that the fixes are band-aids over bullet holes. Money-wise, he’s bleeding to death.
As the tale progresses, Nacer’s fortunes and choices go from bad to worse, from dumb to dumber. Most folks can’t see they’re digging their own graves until they lose sight of the sky. Soon, Nacer’s world and thought process literally cross over to his prophet-voiced, flip-side reality, which sees him risk everything to keep his life, family, and career from going down for the last time like the Titanic. Ending under the weight of hubris and stupidity.
Gagne ton ciel (The Cost of Heaven) is a real slow burn. What compels you to stay glued to the screen is the choices Nacer makes as each obstacle crashes against him like waves in a storm surge breaking against the rocks of a shoreline. Denis, who also co-wrote the screenplay, directs with a combination of sterility and intensity. When the fate of the character is pushed to extremes, Denis’s compositions reflect the fractured mindset of the protagonist as he flirts with a desperate final solution.
What begins simply swiftly degenerates into complexity. Here lies the magnificent approach Gagne ton ciel (The Cost of Heaven) takes in capturing the attention of the viewer. Like a banquet that gets better dish by dish, so does this picture reward anyone willing to sit before the plate to be served a stylish rendition of a sweet life turned sour.
"…pursuit of the high life often tests and temps."
