Three days before the French release of the film Dalloway (September 17, 2025), Mylène Farmer lends her voice to the central AI of Yann Gozlan’s new film and calls for a wake-up call: protecting creation against "impostors." Presented at Cannes in May, the adaptation of Tatiana de Rosnay’s book features Cécile de France as a novelist under digital influence, at the shifting boundary between technological assistance and control.
Milestones: release, distribution, and adaptation
Mylène Farmer lends her voice to the AI in the film ‘Dalloway)’, which haunts Yann Gozlan’s new feature film. Presented in a Midnight Screening at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2025, the film hits French theaters on September 17, 2025. In the film, Cécile de France plays Clarissa, a novelist lacking inspiration. The digital assistant initially rescues her but then becomes an intrusive presence. Anna Mouglalis completes the cast. The screenplay freely adapts the dystopian novel The Flowers of Shadow by Tatiana de Rosnay.
A futuristic thriller based on Tatiana de Rosnay
The story transposes the universe of the novel The Flowers of Shadow to the cinema.
Clarissa, a writer in search of new inspiration, joins an ultra-connected residence meant to stimulate creation.
The digital assistant "Dalloway" initially proves invaluable… but the system goes awry: help becomes control, efficiency turns into surveillance.
This drift fuels a futuristic thriller where the algorithm claims to calibrate inspiration until it attempts to replace it.
From book to screen: what the adaptation changes
The novel explores the interiority of an author weakened by doubt. Yann Gozlan creates an atmospheric film faithful to the sense of strangeness, but more sensory: connected architecture, omnipresent interfaces, enveloping voice.
Where the page unfolds thoughts, the image favors signals: notifications, doors opening, talking objects.
Clarissa moves through a world optimized for her – and that’s precisely what is unsettling.
"An AI has no soul": Mylène Farmer’s warning
The artist sums up the dilemma: AI fascinates but questions the uniqueness of creation.
Farmer says she uses tools like ChatGPT for practical tasks, while warning: "You have to know how to use it and not become a slave to this tool."
Above all: "An AI has no soul." The stage, meeting the audience, shared emotion – all experiences that cannot be downloaded. Hence her call to "protect creation, creators against impostors."
Cécile de France advocates for strict regulation
The actress favors the legal angle: regulating AI, sanctioning tech giants, installing safeguards for artists and audiences.
This discourse resonates with the film: Clarissa believes she can tame the tool before suffering its logic.
The issue touches on copyright, traceability, and public trust.
How the voice of "Dalloway" was integrated into filming
Mylène Farmer‘s lines were recorded in advance and then played through an earpiece to Cécile de France during takes.
Desired effect: an intimate and constant presence of the AI, accentuating the confusion between help and control.
A public debate reignited by media statements
On September 14, 2025, on TF1’s 8 PM news, Mylène Farmer and Cécile de France reiterated the interest in AI tools but also their pitfalls.
In the press (Le Parisien, Public), Farmer calls for protecting creators, Cécile de France advocates for clear rules.
Synthetic content, vocal clones, "impostors": what are we talking about?
The term "impostors" refers to generated content that imitates an artist’s signature without bearing authorship.
Vocal clones, synthetic images, performances reproduced by models fuel this concern.
The film illustrates this shift: the tool assists then imposes itself.
Hence the importance of authenticity markers and a legal framework to distinguish inspiration from usurpation.
A tradition of voice in cinema and the school of suspense
Giving a voice to an off-screen presence is a classic technique: invisible narrators, voice-overs, mysterious entities.
In Dalloway, Mylène Farmer’s recognizable voice becomes a character.
The staging favors suggestion and anticipation, playing on notifications, doors that yield, screens that watch.
Promotion strategy and expected reception
The film’s promotion continues through exclusive interviews, television, and magazine press.
The central message: equip the public to understand AI while measuring its influence.
Release scheduled for September 17, 2025, with word-of-mouth driven by the topicality of the subject and a strong cast.
What European law says in 2025
The European AI regulation (AI Act) came into effect on August 1, 2024.
Its first provisions have been in place since February 2, 2025: defining an AI system, transparency obligations, targeted bans.
The deadlines extend until 2026.
For culture, this implies:
- transparency (indicating when a voice or image is generated),
- traceability (documenting training data),
- proportionality (adapting obligations according to risk).
Why this film speaks to today
Beyond suspense, Dalloway highlights a contemporary anxiety: outsourcing creative gestures.
The promise of efficiency is enticing, but dependence looms.
Farmer denounces the "impostors": not the tools, but the usurpation of creation.
Cécile de France emphasizes the importance of legal regulation.
The film suggests a path: reaffirming intention as a criterion. An AI can help, not desire.
Digital ecology: an underlying question
The discussion on AI joins that of the environmental footprints of digital technology.
Without being a militant film, Dalloway questions the proliferation of connected objects and dependence on assistance.
Sobriety – moderating usage, prioritizing the essential – also becomes a humanistic choice.