L’entaille

The daily life of a group of teenagers is turned upside down when two girls are found one morning, brutally murdered on the outskirts of the high school. The presence of the police prevents Pola from dealing drugs around the school, the discreet Daniel has increasingly morbid impulses, and the popular Laurie begins to recall traumatic memories. The life of the small town is soon punctuated by television news and the rumor of a dangerous bat-wielding murderer quickly spreads through the town. With the end of school approaching, the future seems uncertain, yet everyone wants to preserve the illusion of eternal carefree life. But the evil is still there, hidden under their eyes…

A true homage to American genre cinema, L’Entailleplunges us into the daily life of a small seaside town whose tranquility is suddenly broken by the arrival of a serial killer. We find all the codes of the slasher or the teen movie which are here skilfully adapted in comics. The spreads, entirely realized in pencil, provoke a feeling of unreality close to the waking dream and bathe us instantly in a hushed atmosphere.
With L’entaille, Antoine Maillard signs a contemporary initiatory story where teenagers suddenly leave the preserved world of childhood to face an adult universe, unknown and threatening. Thus, the central plot highlights the juvenile states of mind of the characters, their doubts and their daily malaise, in introspective moments that contain a form of poetry.