Genre: Action/Superhero
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Writer: Mo Buck & Ann Morrow
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Marion Cotillard, Brendan Gleeson, Jodie Foster, Stephen Macht, Amanda Seyfried, Bridget Regan, Michiel Huisman, Brendan Sexton III
Plot : Maurice Puanteur (Brendan Gleeson), the immensely rich and powerful CEO of the pharmaceutical French company Puanteur orders his most brilliant scientist and researcher, Andre Monteau (Brendan Sexton III) to come and see him in his office. Monteau is nervous, nobody likes going in Maurice’s office, it’s dark, grim and he’s uneasy to be around. Puanteur closes the door and starts a projector, briefing Monteau about this new chemical compound that could revolutionize the parfum industry, but (there’s always a but) it is untested on humans and potentially dangerous. He orders Monteau to test the compound on one if his employee, Chantal d’Aramis (Bridget Regan). Puanteur gets closer and closer to Monteau who hesitates. He gives in and accepts, after Maurice threatens that his job is on the line. Monteau follows Puanteur in his personal laboratory and he gives him a little spray bottle. Monteau does as he was ordered and he sprays the compound on Chantal.
The same night, it is Chantal’s go away party, as she’s pregnant and going on maternity leave. Her brother, Luc is there, along with his young daughter Viviane and his wife Susanne. They celebrate Chantal’s baby and they wish her and her family well. All of sudden, Chantal faints and they rush her to the hospital, where they perform a C-section on Chantal to save the baby, as there’s nothing to do for Chantal, they don’t know what hit her. In the end, Chantal dies and her baby survives. The father is died months earlier, so it’s Luc and Susanne who take the baby with them. When Andre learned that Chantal died from unknown circumstances, he decided to write a letter to Luc d’Aramis, explaining him what happened. When Maurice learned that Chantal died, he went to Andre’s place, killed him and made it look like a suicide. Luc tried to sue the Puanteur company, and they settled out of court when he learned that Andre acted alone on the compound (and killed himself afterwards), a fact, unbeknown to him, was completely fabricated by Puanteur. Luc, already a fairly wealthy man, promised to keep the sum and to give it to Chantal’s baby. He called her Constance.
Far, far away from there, on another planet, a man named Zor-L, realising that his planet was about to explode, places his infant daughter Kara Zor-L, on a space shuttle with Earth as the destination. He wishes her good luck and as it launches, all life on the planet is extinct.
Fast forward 25 years later, Luc d’Aramis (Stephen Macht) disconnects his adoptive daughter Constance (Alicia Vikander) from a machine. She asks him how the company’s doing and out comes Vivianne (Marion Cotillard), Luc’s daughter and Constance’s sister. Together, they founded Revson Corporation, a rival company of Puanteur. They operate mostly in the parfum industry and are probably the best company out there. Vivianne says business is booming and Puanteur is selling less and less. Susanne (Jodie Foster), their mother comes in and wishes Vivianne good luck for her press conference tonight. Vivianne wishes Constance could be there with her, as it’s her company as much as it is hers, but Constance can’t, she hasn’t been feeling very well as of late.
Viviane announces Revson’s new fragrance to the world and people already say it’s better than Puanteur. Out of nowhere, a man arrives and shoots Viviane. In the ensuing chaos, they are able to trace the shooter and to follow him to the man who hired him, Maurice Puanteur. He runs away from the police with his chauffeur. Following a lengthy car chase sequence, Maurice is able to escape and nobody knows where he went. The following day, we learn on the news that his company has declared bankruptcy and that Maurice Puanteur is a wanted fugitive. The d’Aramis family is in the hospital alongside Viviane, who survived the attempt on her life. The doctors discharged her and they go back to their manor. There, Constance tells Viviane what happened and that Puanteur is still at-large and a wanted fugitive. Viviane fears for her security and well-being and says it’s time Constance to use… her powers?
Susanne strongly disagrees, saying Constance is far from being Blue Beetle or Captain Atom for that matter, she was only contaminated by a compound and has enhanced speed, agility and senses compared to the average human. What Susanne and Viviane don’t know, is that Constance also has another power, the one she’s trying to remove from her body by plugging herself in machines every night. Luc claims it’s for the other powers, but he knows about Constance’s secret weapon. She projects pheromones in the air and Susanne immediately agrees, saying it’s a great idea and Constance should use her power to avenge the attempt on Viviane’s life and the death of her mother at the hands of Maurice Puanteur. Viviane doesn’t understand what happened and Luc comes in and explains to her Constance’s special powers. He was able to extract a gene from her body when she was young and to replicate it. Constance can influence people and use it in her favor. Together, they developed a suit that could help her do that without feeling dizzy afterwards. Viviane and Susanne follows them and he shows them the secret suit he built for Constance, a catsuit, complete with steel clawed gloves and crimson hair. Constance says she’ll call herself Crimson Fox, but before she assumes her superhero identity, she needs to get rid of her public identity. She gets in the suit and convinces Susanne that it’s a great idea.
The following day, the entire d’Aramis household (minus Constance) are doing another press conference, saddened by the death of their beloved Constance. Her lack of public appearances in the past few weeks was caused by a disease that took her away and they ask people to respect their privacy in this difficult time. Constance, who’s watching on TV, can’t help but laugh at people saddened by her death. Then all attention is directed towards the sky. Nobody listens to the d’Aramis anymore. A shuttle comes down fast and slows down near the ground. The small tent set up flies away and people gather around the shuttle. Gendarmes creating a wall between it and the d’Aramis. A young woman comes out, her name is Kara Zor-L (Amanda Seyfried) and she claims to be from another planet. Her shuttle starts to tilt, threatening to fall over her, so she uses her superhuman powers to lift it up, but she miscalculates her throw and it narrowly misses the audience. The gendarmes, thinking she was aiming for the civilians, start shooting at her, but it doesn’t seem to affect her. She flies away unscathed. Afterwards, the media attention is directed solely to Kara Zor-L’s arrival and nobody really talks about the death of Constance d’Aramis.
Maurice Puanteur is seen sneaking into his company’s building, and he heads for his laboratory. He uses a vase to knock a police guard down and he sneaks out with bottles of a various chemical substances. We follow him in Paris and he enters the Catacombs and goes through a door with a sign on it that says to not enter.
The same night, Constance d’Aramis puts on her Crimson Fox gear and using her powers in public for the first time. She doesn’t want to start with a bang, so she keeps things low-key, settling in on some random burglar. She follows him and when he starts getting nervous and run, so uses her abnormal speed to chase him and tackle him down. Someone saw her and called the police, so she projects pheromones so he turns himself in, but before he does, she cuts him in the face with one of her iron claws so he remembers her. The gendarmes are overly cautious and want to book the weird-looking lady, but she jumps around quickly to avoid them. She projects pheromones to change their mind. A witness asks her what’s her name and she makes sure to look at his camera and say: Crimson Fox. She runs away unscathed.
The city of Paris decided to throw a posh charity event in support of the d’Aramis family to honor Constance’s death. Viviane and Susanne are crying, faking it, obviously, but they are good enough so people don’t suspect anything. Constance sneaks into the building with her suit on and can’t help but observe how people react to her death, and she’s pleasantly surprised to learn that there were people who truly cared about her. She has a flashback of her previous outing as Crimson Fox and she remembers not feeling well after she used her powers. She notices Luc, looking tired, blaming it on his lack of sleep since the death of his daughter, but Constance knows why he’s tired.
When she got back from her outing, Luc welcomed back his daughter and showed her the media attention her video is getting. She says people will get to know her soon, but she feels like her suit isn’t working properly, because she feels dizzy, like she felt when she didn’t have the suit. He promises her to work on it so the side effects are annulled by the mechanic of the suit. As Luc is working on the suit, Viviane and Constance have a discussion about Constance’s new life. Constance doesn’t want to stay hidden for the rest of her life, she wants to be socially active again. Batman has a secret identity, why couldn’t she have a secret identity. That’s when Viviane, always the marketing genius, has a wonderful idea. Why don’t they tie Crimson Fox to their newest fragrance, that’s a way to get people talking. It’s good for their brand and Constance can still have a social life. She accepts, thinking it’s a good idea.
Back at the event, Crimson Fox is hiding on a balcony upstairs where no one can see her. She has a permanent contact with her father, as he always keeps an earpiece connected to the suit. He says everything is alright from his point of view and Viviane is about to get on stage to deliver a speech and that’s when Crimson Fox will come in. Viviane is interrupted by a charming man who introduces himself as Rene Lafayette (Michiel Hiusman) and he would like to meet her. Viviane is surprised by the blunt invitation, but she wants to stay polite, so she accepts. He fixes a date for the next day and kisses her on the cheek. As Viviane is about to start her speech, the ground begins to shake and Maurice Puanteur, of all people, arrives at the event with a large vehicle. He claims he wants to kill Viviane for running his company to the ground. He would have killed her pathetic sister too, but life took care of her. He’s carrying around a huge tank of a chemical substance that’s fuming and it’s attached to a gun-like weapon. People start to evacuate and Crimson Fox tries to talk to her father, but he can’t hear her with all the chaos going down. Maurice is now aiming at Viviane and Rene comes in tackles her down so the substance doesn’t hit her. It hits the wall and the concrete starts to melt. Rene escorts Viviane off the stage and Crimson Fox finally decides to jump down and confront Puanteur. Luc and Susanne, who were watching from outside, start to panic, with Luc telling Constance that shouldn’t do that but it’s too late. Maurice tries to shoot her, but she dodges every shot he fires. After a while, Constance starts to feel dizzy for using her powers too much and she criticizes her father’s work for it. Out of nowhere comes Power Girl. She flies and grabs Crimson Fox and shoots laser beams out of her eyes to make the Puanteur’s tank explode.
When Power Girl and Crimson Fox land, Constance thanks her, but Power Girl says it’s alright, she’s a hero after all. She recognizes her as the woman who crashed on Earth when people were honoring Constance’s death. Power Girl says she’s out to prove she’s not a villain like the media portrayed her after her arrival and she works for the good guys. Crimson Fox says she should come to her place, there are people who would like to meet her and she has to explain a few things to her. After all, Crimson Fox is just starting her superhero journey and Power Girl seems like she knows what she’s doing. Constance reconnects her earpiece and tells her father to meet her at the house, she’d like them to meet someone. On her end, Viviane keeps thanking Rene for saving her, still shocked by the events that just occurred. Police are raiding the building, but can’t find Maurice. There’s only a huge hole on the ground. Viviane gets closer to Rene and she asks him if he would want to have dinner with her and she kisses him on the cheek as he accepts. We see his hand reaching inside his purse and grabbing her keys as she does it, and she didn’t notice a thing.
On the way home, Luc and Susanne keep arguing about whether Constance should still try to act as a hero after her spectacular failure to stop Maurice Puanteur today. When they get home, they meet Power Girl, who noticed Constance’s potential and wants to help her become a true hero, the hero France needs. She offers Luc help for Constance’s suit. Susanne doesn’t want her daughter to be out there every night fighting criminals but Power Girl assures that with her by her side, she’ll be alright. Suzanne is still a bit uncertain, but Constance uses her pheromones to convince her otherwise yet again. Power Girl then leaves with Luc to work on Crimson Fox’s suit as Constance gets some much needed rest. Viviane is seen leaving the restaurant and Rene helps her get in a taxi. They’ll definitely get a second date. As Rene is seen walking in the streets of Paris, we see movements below the streets, in the catacombs. A worm-like creature, but with a human face, Maurice Puanteur’s one, is making his way to the surface. He digs a hole in the middle of the street and he regurgitates a putrid liquid that dries everything. The liquid quickly spreads around and dries everything in his way, but it doesn’t seem to penetrate buildings. The people who were out on the streets are dead and Paris is left looking like a dry wasteland. Viviane looks around, not knowing what’s happening and in panic, calls her family and let them know she’s alright. She then wonders if Rene is alright and we see him inside a building. We zoom out and it looks like he’s in Viviane’s office. He steals a couple things, mainly jewels and cash before leaving. He puts his mask on, he’s Le Fantôme, the infamous robber who terrorizes Paris. When he gets out, he wonders why the city is all dried, but he runs home to secure his stolen goods.
The next day, Power Girl and Crimson Fox are investigating the gaping hole left by Puanteur. Scientists and specialists inspected it, but nobody really knows what happened. They get down the hole and into the catacombs and it stinks really bad. Crimson Fox keeps contact with Luc at all times and he helps them navigate in the labyrinth-like catacombs. As they walk, they notice more and more worms on the ground and as they go closer and closer to the center of the catacombs, the worms get bigger and bigger. Power Girl is held hostage by a worm and Crimson Fox tries to use her pheromones to get him to quit, but it doesn’t work, so she combines her quickness and her iron claws to cut through it and it works. They fight more and more giant worms with sharp teeth and they are soon overwhelmed. Power Girl shoots laser beams out of her eyes to get them back to the surface, but worms are quick to follow. The army, who was called on the scene quickly dispose of them and they fill the hole so worms can’t come out anymore.
People now want to know who Crimson Fox really is, so an event was organized in the dried-up Paris to present the world’s newest hero to the nation. Everything was organized by Viviane of course, but she understandably chose not to come, instead opting for a date with Rene. Crimson Fox is to reveal herself as a the new spokesperson for Revson, as a way to boost the always-growing popularity of their brand, but also, in Viviane’s wildest dreams, keep Puanteur away from her. Constance presents herself, but doesn’t say she’s Constance d’Aramis of course. She also introduces Power Girl to the world and together, they will defend the streets of Paris.
Viviane waits at the restaurant for René, but he doesn’t come. In fact, he’s the at the same event as Crimson Fox, stealing from the rich people and keeping it all to himself. He was already able to seize a good amount of things when he’s approached by Power Girl, who spotted him, stealing from the crowd. She confronts him about it, and true to his nickname, Le Fantome is able to escape.
Under the city, Maurice Puanteur, more like, the thing that looks like Maurice, is busy plotting his imminent comeback and he intends on killing Viviane d’Aramis for good. He sends his worms to attack and a plethora of worms leave the epicentre of the catacombs and go everywhere in town. They pierce the ground and crawl in the streets.
Rene is at his place and he grabs all of his cash and carries it in a bag. He looks at his clock and he rushes to the restaurant where Viviane was on her way out. He grabs her by the arm drags her in an alley, where he plants a kiss on her lips. She asks him why he’s doing that and he offers Viviane to run away with him, to get away from this city, to get away from Maurice. She’s unsure about it, even if he shows her the money. She asks him if she wants to talk about it first and they decide to talk about it at Rene’s place.
Worms are slowly invading Paris and eating people alive. Chaos is taking over, gendarmes all over the place, trying to stop the ravages caused by these abnormally huge worms. The army also have their hands full. Maurice Puanteur is seen underground with his chemical substance still reacting and dripping all over the place, creating other worms. The worms are now invading the building where Crimson Fox unveiled herself to the world. Constance asks her father what’s going on, and, from his monitor notices the worms attacking everything all over Paris. Given how Puanteur looked his last time out, he wouldn’t be surprised if he’s behind it all. Constance tells Power Girl to take people to safety and to let her make a name for herself. Upon her insistence, and convinced that her work on Crimson Fox’s costume is solid enough, she asks Constance to spread pheromones to calm down the crowd and it works. Power Girl takes off a part of the wall and drops it in front of the emergency exit so people are safe and sound. Crimson Fox is dodging worms left and right, tearing them apart, while Power Girl fights them off effectively. The ground starts to shake, but the epicentre isn’t near them. Luc watches the news feed provided by an helicopter and sees Maurice Puanteur appearing near the Eiffel Tower.
Power Girl takes Crimson Fox with her and with Luc’s help they fly to the Eiffel Tower. Speaking of the tower, Viviane and Luc were walking near there and fell victim to Puanteur. Maurice shoves Rene aside and grabs Viviane with his gigantic claws. Power Girl and Crimson Fox arrive at the same time and Maurice throws Viviane aside. Power Girl flies around, confusing Maurice and hits him with her laser beams. Crimson Fox uses the distraction to climb on his and uses her claws to pierce his eyes. She uses her quickness to slide down Maurice and hit him all the way down with little jabs. Maurice is in agony spilling his substance everywhere. His “blood” dissolve the ground and it reaches the Eiffel Tower. It begins to fall down and Power Girl and Crimson Fox team up to deliver the final blow. They fly in the air at full speed and with Fox’s claws, they pierce his body and come out with the heart. Crimson Fox jumps down and joins her sister, who got caught in the spillage, while Power Girl lifts the Eiffel Tower up to prevent it from falling.
Viviane whispers to Constance. She says it hurts and that she’s going to die, but Crimson Fox, using her pheromones, reassure her. Viviane dies as she whispers that she’s going to be alright, with a smile on her face. As she breathes for the last time, Constance looks around the devastated Paris, a dried wasteland, chaos in the streets. Power Girl looks at Constance, she knows what happened.
Post Credit Scene: On the planet Angor, the Extremists, Doctor Diehard (Christoph Waltz), Dreamslayer (James Remar), Gorgon (Dominic Purcell), Lord Havok (Jim Caviezel) and Tracer (Hafbor Julius Bjornsson) notice Blue Jay (Tim Roth) who shrank himself until he measured only seven inches. He jumps around them, dodging them, until the Silver Sorceress (Sofia Black D’Alia) arrives and tries to fight the Extremists. He screams to her that they can’t go back to Earth and she says they don’t have a choice. She opens a tiny portal and he lands in the devastated Paris. Her faith remains unknown.
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