‘Guru’ review: Pierre Niney stars as a manipulative life coach in uninspiring French thriller

Dir: Yann Gozlan. France/Belgium. 2026. 126mins

An influential French life coach finds his livelihood under threat in Guru, a lacklustre thriller that fails to make its scheming protagonist deliciously devious. Director Yann Gozlan taps frequent collaborator Pierre Niney to play a self-help guru who seemingly believes in the compassionate, affirmative message he’s selling to his loyal fans — that is, until his empire comes under attack by a proposed new law that will severely regulate his industry. As an exploration of modern-day cults and self-proclaimed messiahs, the film mostly preaches to the choir.

A fairly predictable tale of a soulless con artist 

Guru premieres at the American French Film Festival in Los Angeles before opening in France in late January. Gozlan, who previously worked with Niney on An Ideal Man and Black Box, premiered his previous film, thriller The Residence, at this year’s Cannes, and it opened in French theatres in September. Niney’s critical and commercial appeal should help spark awareness in a picture that boasts an intriguing hook, but mediocre reviews may diminish theatrical prospects.

Mathieu Vasseur (Niney) has become a celebrity by offering popular motivational seminars that espouse the importance of unlocking childhood pain and reaching your maximum potential. Lovingly referred to as Coach Matt, he has been inspired by superstar American life coach Peter Conrad (Holt McCallany), who is interested in possibly recruiting Vasseur to join him for a massive arena show in Las Vegas. But the French government has introduced legislation that would force life coaches to have official credentials in order to peddle their self-help lessons — a development that Vasseur fears will jeopardise his lucrative business.

In Vasseur’s panic to reaffirm his bona fides as a legitimate self-help guru, he will make a rash decision that involves his distant brother Christophe (Christophe Montenez), who has long been dubious about Vasseur’s touchy-feely sermons. It would be unfair to spoil where Guru goes from there but, in short order, Vasseur lets slip his mask of empathetic benevolence to do everything in his power to preserve his empire. 

At first, Gozlan, who also co-wrote the screenplay, leaves the audience uncertain regarding the character’s true nature. Niney plays Vasseur with such openhearted sincerity as the guru connects with individuals in his sold-out seminars. True, the elaborate productions are carefully managed backstage — Vasseur’s wife and business partner Adele (Marion Barbeau) radios him to tell him which audience members to speak to during the show — but Vasseur appears to genuinely care about uplifting others.

But Guru soon becomes a fairly predictable tale of a soulless con artist fighting to protect what’s his. The screenplay wants to expose the charlatans who hawk self-improvement to the gullible masses, but Guru never plumbs the depths of this high-school dropout who calculatingly reinvented himself in order to get rich. Niney exudes ample charisma, but we don’t see enough of the devil inside this supposed saint to appreciate the character’s duality and duplicity.

Cinematographer Antoine Sanier emphasises the cold, lifeless world of wealth and privilege that surrounds this self-made celebrity, and composer Chloe Thevenin adds melodramatic and suspenseful tones as Vasseur plots to maintain his reputation. Unfortunately, the supporting characters tend toward the broad, with Anthony Bajon especially struggling as someone whose unhappy life was transformed by Vasseur and now clings pathetically to the guru like a parasite.

But Bajon’s unconvincing performance speaks to a larger issue concerning how Gozlan views the life-coach industry. On some level, Guru needs to hook into what’s so seductive for people who willingly give themselves over to a motivational speaker offering them salvation. That relationship between guru and disciple is powerful, and also frightening. But Gozlan fails to take its full, horrible measure — ultimately, the film feels as lost as the desperate souls Coach Matt is purporting to save.