Topping Cahiers du cinéma’s list of best films from last year, Albert Serra’s mesmerizing epic conjures up the malaise and paranoia poisoning the Edenic calm of sun-soaked Tahiti. Steeped in moral ambiguity, Benoît Magimel’s stunning performance embodies the corruptive power of the imperial state.

Descending into a bizarro world of electric genitals and elastic time, French jokester Quentin Dupieux devises newfangled, side-splitting methods for well-off egotists to keep up appearances. Suspend disbelief: this wild-eyed pursuit of eternal youth and virility is absurdly funny—and incisive too.