The 2023 film Outrage is short, simple, but not sweet. A revenge story at its core, it mixes the themes of nationalist politics and the innocent (sometimes not so innocent) lives that are lost in the aftermath of such political movements. The story revolves around a group of individuals who gather in a chateau in France to shape the future of French politics, but they don’t realize that they may have to pay the price for the death of a student named Max Moreau, who had been killed by the police. Max had been indoctrinated by the neo-nazi ideology being purveyed in the media, and the group of individuals gathered were the main players behind the spread of the ideology. Directed by Mathieu Bonzon, Outrage aims to entertain with an engaging plot, but at the end of it, it seems a bit too silly, trying to get its serious message across through the thriller genre.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In Thee Film?
Alice was the caretaker of the chateau everybody had gathered at. There was Ivy, Frank’s niece, who was an up-and-coming journalist and news anchor on Frank’s media channel, Nationalist News International (NNI). France had been engulfed by the violence that had erupted after NNI and other organizations such as the Ultra-Right Youth Movement, led by French Officer Gaspar Francois had started to brainwash the public. There was the writer Deluca as well, whose books were having a negative effect on the impressionable young minds of the nation. NNI was the news network that was at the center of it all, helping Victoire, the woman touted to be the next President of France. She was benefiting from the nationalistic propaganda being communicated by NNI, Deluca, and Gaspar, and had funds coming in from a mysterious fellow named Hesse. They had gathered in the chateau to celebrate their steady rise into power and discuss their next moves. Alice had some other plans for the group, as she prepared a great meal, adding rat poison to it.
How Did Deluca Know He Was Drugged?
Deluca was drunk, and as the party went on, he gulped the most number of drinks. The drinks had not been spared by Alice; they too had a healthy dose of rat poison. Frank wanted Ivy to take care of Deluca, indulging in his ‘silly’ talks, but the drunkard had the audacity to try to harass her, thinking she wouldn’t retaliate. Frank came into the room and saw Deluca on the floor, mustering the strength to get up. Deluca, too, was surprised that he wasn’t able to get up. Alice immediately came in and helped Deluca into his room. Deluca must have known the alcohol limit he could function under, which is why he was surprised that he needed to be assisted to walk. In a delirious state, he started muttering that he was drugged, and Alice removed his doubts by telling him that he had actually been poisoned, and in a few moments he would die. Deluca tried to fight back, but the poison had started to take effect, and he passed away.
Why Did Ivy Return?
Frank was livid with Ivy and wanted her to leave before she made matters worse. He had trusted her to build a rapport with Deluca, who could hold an important portfolio in Victoire’s cabinet if she won the election. Ivy had proved herself to be a ‘truth-teller,’ sometimes going against NNI’s policy to never ask counter questions, especially to people like Deluca. But Ivy had bungled up that task, according to Frank. Ivy too was feeling dejected after seeing Frank’s behavior, who wasn’t willing to listen to her story of what had happened. Alice saw how Ivy was an innocent young soul who had her life ahead of her, and she desperately wanted to do some good work, but it was impossible to work under people like Frank. That’s why, when seeing her out, Alice deliberately made her stay away from the drinks, as she didn’t want her to die. When Ivy left the building, Alice resumed serving the guests. Ivy was standing outside of Alice’s quarters in the building, and through the window, she saw something that made her return. Alice knew that the police should know the truth even if she perished, which is why she prepared a folder titled ‘for the police’ and left it at her table. In it was a photo that proved she was the recently slain student Max Moreau’s mother. In the document were various documents stolen from Frank’s room, which proved that he had been taking money from Hesse to spread the party’s propaganda. Ivy saw the folder and went straight to Frank, telling him how Alice had been hiding this information about her.
How Did Alice Escape?
Now that the secret was out, Alice was in trouble. She immediately grabbed the weakest of the group, Ivy, and put a knife to her throat. Earlier, it was shown that while cleaning the room, she had tripped the switch placed near the floor. When Gaspar, Serge, and Hesse all drew their guns on Alice, she knew she had to escape soon. Thinking quickly on her feet, she used her foot to trip that switch, causing a blackout. Frank urged everyone not to fire, as they could kill Ivy. Alice used a trap door through the cupboard and went towards the attic, taking Ivy with her.
Why Did Ivy Lie?
Hesse had shot Serge, as he wanted to ensure that Alice was painted as a villain, just like her son. His plan was to kill Alice and then call the police, telling them how the deranged woman infiltrated the group and managed to kill Serge before she was neutralized. Alice was not easy prey for Gaspar or Hesse. There was also the angle of the poisoned drinks that Gapsar and Frank had had earlier. Soon, the poison would affect them. Alice had also planted a bomb in Victoire’s car, which is why it went up in flames once she tried to escape. The future president (according to Frank) was dead.
In the attic, Ivy and Alice had a chance to confront what they had done. Alice was quite upfront about her decision to poison the people, as she believed they were directly responsible for Max’s death. Ivy understood her pain and even remembered her meeting with Max when he was in Gaspar’s Youth Movement. She remembered Max as a well-mannered student, but there was an incident where Gaspar threw him out of the group. Perhaps this made Max want to prove himself as a strong member of the group, and he opened fire in the market. Was he radicalized and acting alone, or was it some kind of conspiracy where Gaspar forced Max to go to the market assuring him he would come out as a hero? Frank blamed Alice alone for raising such an obnoxious kid. Whatever the case, Ivy knew she had committed a mistake by showing Frank the folder.
Frank had used a trick and transferred Hesse’s money into Ivy’s account, essentially making her an accomplice to what had happened in the chateau. If the police ever investigated the case, it would seem like she was the mastermind taking in the money to spread the propaganda. Alice managed to finish off Hesse, but was mortally wounded in the process. Frank and Gaspar were finished off as well. The injuries sustained in a series of shootouts, combined with the poison, did the job. Before dying, Alice asked Ivy to tell the world about what had happened in the chateau and not let the news paint her as the Neo-Nazi’s crazy mother. Ivy did not keep that promise, and after becoming the head of NNI, she went out to label Alice as a deranged woman who was possibly driven to violence by that segment of the media that wanted to demean or hamper the nationalist news. Ivy would have lost her news channel, which was purely based on the nationalist agenda, which is why she chose not to tell the truth, implying that power corrupts even those who had once decided to speak truth to power.
