The Count of Monte Cristo (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo)

Over the last century, there have been more than twenty film adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel about a wrongly imprisoned man’s righteous, elaborate revenge against the trio of dastardly men who betrayed him for personal gain. However, none quite match the soul-stirring pathos, rapier-sharp action, or sweeping grandeur found here.

French directing team Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière (The Best is Yet to Come; What’s in a Name?) treat the source material like the hidden treasure Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney) discovers in Monte Cristo. They revel in its Rube Goldberg machine-like plot with a devotion to detail and passion that makes it crackle with new resonance.