Gentle Monster (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

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Gentle Monster follows a renowned pianist whose move to the countryside with her family leads to a devastating discovery. Marie Kreutzer’s 2026 drama examines love, trust and deception through a tense personal crisis, with Léa Seydoux, Catherine Deneuve and Jella Haase among its principal cast.

Gentle Monster is a 2026 drama written and directed by Marie Kreutzer. The film centers on Lucy Weiss, a renowned pianist whose family relocation to the countryside brings a deeply disturbing truth to light.

Starring Léa Seydoux alongside Catherine Deneuve, Jella Haase and Laurence Rupp, the film uses a family crisis to explore how love and trust can be altered by deception. It is an international production involving Austria, Germany, France, Sweden, Singapore and Finland.

Gentle Monster movie details

Story without spoilers

Lucy Weiss moves with her family from their established life to the countryside. There, she uncovers a truth with consequences serious enough to unsettle her personal world and force her to reassess the people and relationships around her.

The premise places a female pianist at the center of a psychological and emotional confrontation involving trust, deception and the limits of what can be accepted within a family. Further plot details are best left unspoken to preserve the film’s central mystery.

What to expect

Gentle Monster is presented as a serious drama built around a life-changing discovery rather than a conventional story of relocation. Its subject matter includes disturbing criminal elements, including references to a pedophile and a pornographer, as well as panic attacks.

The film’s 1-hour-54-minute runtime gives its central conflict room to develop through the protagonist’s personal crisis. The multilingual production features German, English and French, suggesting a setting shaped by more than one cultural and linguistic context, while the supplied credits identify Marie Kreutzer as both director and writer.

Cast and creative team

Léa Seydoux leads the cast as Lucy Weiss. Catherine Deneuve plays Eryn, Jella Haase appears as Elsa Kühn, and Laurence Rupp portrays Philip Weiss. The cast also includes Sylvester Groth as Hermann Kühn, Katharina Lorenz as Maike, Regina Fritsch as Inge Weiss, Raphael Nicholas as Hr. Engel, Anton Rubtsov as Arian and Nils Strunk as Lukas.

Marie Kreutzer is credited as both director and writer, making her the film’s central creative voice behind the camera and on the screenplay.

• Léa Seydoux as Lucy Weiss
• Catherine Deneuve as Eryn
• Jella Haase as Elsa Kühn
• Laurence Rupp as Philip Weiss
• Sylvester Groth as Hermann Kühn
• Katharina Lorenz as Maike
• Regina Fritsch as Inge Weiss
• Raphael Nicholas as Hr. Engel
• Anton Rubtsov as Arian
• Nils Strunk as Lukas

Release and production context

Gentle Monster is listed as a 2026 release with a release date of September 17, 2026. It is classified as a drama and has a runtime of 1 hour and 54 minutes. The film is associated with Austria, Germany, France, Sweden, Singapore and Finland, and its spoken languages are German, English and French.

The production companies credited are Film AG, Komplizen Film, Kazak Productions, Kjellson & Wik, Film i Väst, ORF, ZDF and ZDF/Arte. The film is also identified as being based on a magazine, newspaper or article.

Production companies: Film AG, Komplizen Film, Kazak Productions, Kjellson & Wik, Film i Väst, ORF, ZDF, ZDF/Arte

Gentle Monster official trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube

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With its internationally assembled cast and a premise focused on a disturbing discovery, Gentle Monster is positioned as a character-led drama about the destabilizing effects of hidden truths. Marie Kreutzer’s combined writing and directing credit, along with Léa Seydoux’s lead role, gives the film a clear creative and dramatic focus without revealing how its conflict unfolds.

Film data:
TMDB · IMDb