Dry Cleaned - Joris Mertens

In the rain-slicked, neon glowing streets of a 1970s continental metropolis, a man called François makes a snap decision that will change his life for goodFrançois, in his fifties, living alone and low on cash, does not have the life he dreams of. With a cigarette stuck to the corner of his mouth and wearing his perpetual black suit, he has carried out the same morning routine for 17 years: entering the lottery with his lucky numbers, then knocking back a beer at Café Monico before his shift as the delivery driver for a dry cleaners. His days are brightened only by newsagent Maryvonne and her young daughter. He dreams of winning the lottery to give them a better life. When a routine delivery leads him to knock on the door of a countryside mansion, he enters the scene of a crime whose remains consist of a dozen bodies and a bag full of banknotes. What François chooses to do next could change his fate for good…Visually stunning, atmospheric and replete with the smoking irony of European noir, Dry Cleaned is a masterful tale about an anti-hero radically stepping out of his routine - beautifully illustrated by a breakout international talent.