Dupieux is characteristically abrupt, absurd, eccentric, indulges in ingenuities, is playful with gags and anarchic with the material on hand.

| Jul 10, 2024

The fun, however, can only last so long, and despite some giggle-worthy slapstick involving a nervous, shaking, wine-splashing waiter, The Second Act eventually moves into a slower, less ebullient gear.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 15, 2024

The Second Act, a soufflé-light meta-comedy that rises delightfully before collapsing somewhat without being fully cooked.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 15, 2024

Lea Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel and Raphael Quenard commit fully to this cheeky postmodern exercise, but neither the humour nor the commentary is incisive enough to sustain such a strained bauble.

| May 15, 2024

Designer cynicism can only get you so far, and even at a curt 75 minutes, this one feels like an hour too long.

| May 15, 2024

Perhaps there is nothing much to The Second Act, but the soufflé of self-awareness rises tastily enough.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 15, 2024

With a barely-there narrative even by Dupieux’s own standard, The Second Act still wrangles a few winning reveals, building to a most savage punchline.

| Original Score: B- | May 14, 2024

Ingeniously, Dupieux makes the two possibilities impossible to untwist. Here, artists and their art are inseparable, and if that makes life tricky for us – well, tough luck.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 14, 2024