Hellphone is a fascinating blend of a teen coming of age and horror movie genres but with many comedic twists all against the beautiful backdrop of Paris. Set in a high school near the heart of the city, it traces the plight of 17 year old Sid Supir (Jean Baptiste Maunier) a baby faced quirky skater kid trying to woo an older beautiful and popular girl Angie (Jennifer Decker) who currently dates wealthy handsome and equally popular Virgile (Vladimir Consigny). Set in the mid 2000's at the very beginning of the smartphone revolution when phones began to be more than for calls and texts, Sid believes he can win over Angie with a racy and radical new experimental phone he buys for a mere 30 euros in a sinister black magic shop. The phone turns out to have supernatural powers to grant the every wish of an adventurous teenage boy and his skating buddy Pierre/Tiger (Benjamin Junger). At first these wishes are relatively innocent, like giving him a formula in a maths class and advance warning on a history exam subject. But as Sid tries to bypass the bullying of teachers, his exploitive boss and Virgile and his aggressive friends to win over Angie, the phone orchestrates a series of spectacular, and at times humorous almost slapstick, deaths. As the death toll mounts and as Sid becomes obsessed with his quest, eventually Angie and Tiger assist Sid with the difficult and gruesome task of destroying this phone from hell. This journey brings Sid and Angie together.
A still young looking 15 year old Jean Baptiste (JB) Maunier is cast in this cool teen romp by Director James Huth to capitalise on his dramatic rise to fame after his starring role aged 12 in "Les Choristes" due to his near perfect angelic choir boy voice. Despite being first a singer and all the other main high school student parts being filled by young looking adults all at least 5 years older than JB, his acting in this high energy intense movie is first rate and he fits in very comfortably in a very different role than "The Choir". For a few years through his teens, Maunier attempted a triple of pursuing an acting, modeling and singing career but with only modest success with recording some songs and cameo roles as an adult.
A still young looking 15 year old Jean Baptiste (JB) Maunier is cast in this cool teen romp by Director James Huth to capitalise on his dramatic rise to fame after his starring role aged 12 in "Les Choristes" due to his near perfect angelic choir boy voice. Despite being first a singer and all the other main high school student parts being filled by young looking adults all at least 5 years older than JB, his acting in this high energy intense movie is first rate and he fits in very comfortably in a very different role than "The Choir". For a few years through his teens, Maunier attempted a triple of pursuing an acting, modeling and singing career but with only modest success with recording some songs and cameo roles as an adult.