Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Émilie Noblet, Netflix’s ‘Call My Agent! The Movie’ expands on the world of ‘Call My Agent!‘ following the once invincible ASK Agency on their new, and very different career trajectory. A lot seems to have changed since the company closed, and while some have retained their spots in the talent agency industry, others see this as a chance to pursue something else. Andréa Martel happens to belong to the latter camp and wishes to make her dream film, ‘La Fugitive’, a reality. However, when one of her leads unceremoniously exits the project at the last minute, Andrea ends up needing her old team to put things back on the right path. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Call My Agent! The Movie Plot Synopsis
‘Call My Agent! The Movie’ begins with Hervé catching us up to what has happened in the years since the end of season 4. With ASK closed down and the team disbanded, the characters hardly seem to be in touch with each other. Noemie and Andrea, however, work in the same media company, with the former going on to become a producer and the latter deciding to pursue her dream of directing a movie. While the script for ‘La Fugitive’ is already finished, there seem to be too many hurdles at the production stage. The male lead, Laurent Lafitte, reveals that he has signed on for a cameo in a Wes Anderson movie at the same time, and things only get worse when Mathias advises him to ditch his French project entirely, unaware that Andrea and Noemie are working on it.
With an actor gone and only days before filming begins, Andrea has to hunt for a new face to pair alongside Laetitia Casta, the main lead of the film. Eventually, Gabriel helps them land Vincent Macaigne, who seems to be going through a rough patch, which involves a lot of gloom about the climate. Though both Vincent and Laetitia feel hesitant to share the screen, they nonetheless say yes. However, day one of filming turns out to be a bona fide disaster, ending with Vincent accidentally busting his co-star’s nose. Meanwhile, Andrea learns that her ex-partner, Colette, plans to take their daughter, Flora, out of Paris, and fewer visits aren’t something Andrea is ready to accept. However, without the film, she doesn’t exactly have any economic stability either, which makes her all the more desperate.
One day, Andrea wakes up to find both Vincent and Laetitia missing, but decides to go ahead with filming nonetheless. To make things catastrophically worse, a flash flood sweeps through the forest they are filming in, destroying their set, cameras, and other equipment in the process. Though Andrea has some last-minute hope that the insurance will cover the costs, Noemie has even worse news to offer. To accommodate a last-minute casting, she hired a Romanian insurance company that doesn’t cover rain-related damage. Distraught, Andrea almost gives up on the film and locks herself in a room, only opening the door when Arlette Azémar pays her a visit. Arlette, as it turns out, is the co-writer of ‘La Fugitive,’ and she may have a plan to bring the film back from the ashes.
Call My Agent! The Movie Ending: Does Andrea’s Film Get Made?
‘Call My Agent! The Movie’ delivers a happy ending for Andrea and the team, as the insurance company agrees to recover the losses, saving the movie in the process. This battle isn’t exactly won fairly, as, on Arlette’s suggestion, Noemie ends up cooking up a fake story about how the equipment was destroyed through human error, and thus is covered by the insurance. With the adjusters set to arrive in a day’s time, Noemie gathers everyone to bring her made-up story to life by planting the already-wet, destroyed filming equipment in the lake. That’s not all, though, as they also conceptualize a scene that would have needed such an elaborate camera setup, and ultimately sell it to the adjusters.
In making up an imaginary sequence for the story, Noemie, Gabriel, Mathias, and the others symbolically begin to share Andrea’s role as the director of this tale. While the project might be her and Arlette’s brainchild, it is ultimately the reunion of team ASK that brings it to life. This point is further emphasized by the fact that Andrea is not even at the scene when the adjusters come, as she is in court. Having spent the entire film trying to prove herself to an increasingly cruel world, she ultimately loses hope about the film, but her friends don’t. Though it isn’t immediately obvious that the adjusters are convinced by the lies, Noemie gets the confirmation the following day, and this time, Andrea is there to celebrate the good news.
While we don’t see ‘La Fugitive’ get filmed to its completion, a final montage reveals that the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, with critics lauding the performances, and especially the direction. The entire ASK team walks the red carpet together, basking in the fact that they have evolved beyond being talent agents into becoming the stars of the field themselves. Where the first four seasons of the show take us behind the curtain, this movie celebrates how far the characters have come and how much they deserve to have the spotlight to themselves. While Andrea’s film may be about a woman on the run, that journey ultimately ends with her triumph, and the same can be said about everyone behind the project.
Is Arlette Actually Marthe? Is She Telling the Truth?
The biggest surprise in the movie comes from Arlette, who reveals at the end that ‘La Fugitive’ is actually based on her own life, or at least the part of it that she kept secret from the entire world. The premise about a woman who escapes her toxic life and falls in love with the man sent after her is mostly true to what Arlette experienced, back when she lived in rural France and went by the name Marthe Lazard. At that time, she was stuck in an abusive marriage, where her husband used to hit her regularly till one day she decided to defend herself. In the fight that ensued, Arlette ultimately killed her husband and escaped to the forest, where she managed to survive for several days.
While Arlette never actually confirms whether the hunter she fell in love with is real or semi-fictional, she does say that the person who helped her start a new life was her agent. This implies that Arlette was an artist at one point, too, and had a talent agent who helped her survive that difficult stretch, before recommending that she should flee to Paris and assume a new identity. Then, in the City of Light, Marthe became the Arlette we all know, working odd jobs before co-creating ASK Agency with Samuel Kerr. We don’t know if Kerr was one of the few people whom Arlette told about her past life, as she describes it as a period of intense fear and paranoia, to the point of holding her back in life. However, sometime between the events of ‘Call My Agent!’ season 4 and the movie, she decided to share the story with Andrea, and the rest is history.
The fact that everyone who reads the script has a hard time considering it to be realistic is a testament to how impressive Arlette’s journey actually is. Her desire to turn this story into a memoir first and then a film stems from a deeper desire to feel seen. While the world will likely never know that Arlette is Marthe, given the legal trouble that might invite, she still finds happiness in the fact that her tale is being told at last. Having given her all to the industry, Arlette understands the power of cinema better than most. It’s the fact that her story now reflects and amplifies the journeys of so many others, all of whom get to identify with something in Marthe’s journey and become a part of something bigger than themselves.
Who Ends Up Together and Who Doesn’t?
‘Call My Agent! The Movie’ also brings its romantic storylines to a warm finish, with the three couples in the movie finding their true selves and getting back together stronger than ever. Starting off are Andrea and Colette, who begin the film having separated, and then spend a lot of time fighting over Flora. Andrea’s situation has a direct effect on her creative instincts, as a part of her knows that without this film, she will likely be deemed an unreliable parent, with the court handing over complete custody to Colette. By the end of it, however, Andrea and Colette realize that their feelings for each other never went away, and that they are simply too tired of this drawn-out fight. As they skip the court proceeding and walk out hand in hand, all seems good.
For Noemie and Mathias, who have a messy breakup midway through the movie, the production of ‘La Fugitive’ proves nothing less than therapeutic. In the beginning, we notice that even though the duo no longer shares an agent-manager dynamic, Mathias seems to have internalized that mindset on some level. The result is that he almost stops caring about Noemie’s career advances and accidentally sabotages what her first major film production is. It’s not this act itself that breaks Noemie’s heart, though, but the fact that Mathias never truly bothered to look into her life and dreams. By the end of the film, though, Mathias rectifies that mistake, and the narrative conveys that by making him work on her project and on her terms. With the balance restored, the lovebirds get back together, keeping this fan favorite relationship intact.
While the ups and downs in these two relationships have a direct effect on the film, there is one secret love story that completes its entire arc right under everyone’s noses. The two leads of ‘La Fugitive’, Laetitia Casta and Vincent Macaigne, turn out to be ex-partners, and that makes filming the romantic sequences near impossible at first. However, this changes when the duo sneaks out one night to take part in an environmental drive, which then becomes a backdrop to their heartfelt confessions and apologies. In a way, it’s this reunion that truly adds chemistry to ‘La Fugitive’ as well, making it the success story that it is today. ‘Call My Agent’ has always focused on bridging the world on the screen with the world behind, and this time, the cast, crew, and talent agents alike get to be a part of this endeavor together.
Read More: Is Call My Agent! a True Story?
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