Director Nicolas Bary presents 'Increase' as a thoughtful exploration of transhumanism and the dangers of losing touch with our humanity. The film spotlights Paralympic athletes and features Marie-Amélie Le Fur, one of France's most decorated competitors, as technical advisor.
Sources close to the production say Bary doesn't shy away from uncomfortable questions: Was Genie's amputation truly an accident, or did she choose it? Insiders hint the answer might disturb audiences more than expected. The Cronenberg influence isn't just aesthetic—it's philosophical.
Shooting begins in Canada in 2027. Bary cited Marie-Amélie Le Fur's revelation that she once imagined removing her remaining leg to maximize prosthetics efficiency as a key inspiration. The screenplay was co-written by Sheila Erdmann, Mary Noelle Dana, and Bary.
'Increase' looks like the kind of film that'll make you think twice about Silicon Valley's obsession with optimizing humanity—and that's exactly why it needs to be made.
Nicolas Bary is assembling one seriously stacked cast for his next project, and if you thought 'Trouble at Timpetill' was intense, buckle up. The French filmmaker is heading into English-language territory with "Increase," a futuristic thriller that blends transhumanist nightmares with body horror—and the premise alone has already sent shockwaves through the industry. Matilda Lutz leads the ensemble as Genie, a professional runner whose life takes a devastating turn when an unwanted pregnancy collides with a catastrophic accident that leaves her without both legs.
But here's where it gets juicy: after being fitted with brain-connected technological prosthetics, Genie doesn't just recover—she surpasses every limit of human performance, ascending to Paralympic glory. The twist? Questions emerge over whether her amputation was truly accidental or something far more calculated.
"I wanted to explore the pursuit of human performance pushed to the extreme—how a passionate athlete can see that passion evolve into obsession," Bary told Variety. Joining Lutz is Suzanne Clément, known for the gut-punch drama "Mommy," Holt McCallany from Netflix's "Mindhunter," and Fernanda Urrejola, who brings her own dramatic weight from "Cry Macho." That's four performers who've proven they can handle dark material without flinching—exactly what this project demands.
The screenplay comes courtesy of Sheila Erdmann, Mary Noelle Dana, and Bary himself, weaving psychological thriller elements with themes that feel ripped from our collective anxieties about technology and humanity's increasing dependence on digital tools. Bary didn't hold back in interviews about his influences, citing "Gattaca" alongside the body horror cinema of David Cronenberg and emotionally driven thrillers like "Black Swan" and "I, Tonya." "Visually, there's definitely something Cronenbergian in the film—this fascination with the body, transformation and the idea of becoming something hybrid," he said.
But perhaps most striking is his conversation with French Paralympic champion Marie-Amélie Le Fur, who serves as consultant and technical advisor on the project. Le Fur lost a leg in a motorcycle accident as a teenager before becoming one of France's most decorated Paralympians—and Bary revealed she once imagined removing her remaining leg to maximize prosthetic efficiency. "The dream of freeing oneself from the flesh and thereby overcoming suffering, sickness and death is at the core of transhumanist ideology," Bary noted.
"By refusing to recognize our own fragility, we are no longer connected to our ability to feel." Production is slated to begin shooting in Canada in 2027, with Amélie Melkonian executive producing alongside Caramel Films' Valérie d'Auteuil and Kwassa Films' Annabella Nezri. Axel Cosnefroy handles cinematography while Nicolas Tescari composes the score. With "Increase," Bary appears poised to deliver a film that doesn't just entertain but interrogates our relationship with technology, ambition, and what it means to be human in an age of increasing digital dependency. The question isn't whether this will provoke discussion—it's whether audiences are ready for the answers.
