The House of Souls
Based on an original, previously unpublished concept by Serge Leterrier
Genre
Esoteric Drama
Format
Screenwriter & Dialogue Writer
Serge Leterier
Status: Under consideration
Synopsis
Portrait of Martial
Abandoned at birth, Martial grows up as a highly unstable child, on the verge of autism. Social services name him Martial Noël Ange. Angry, unsociable, irritable—everything shifts when, at fifteen, he finds balance in the kitchen after an internship in a restaurant. He becomes diligent, meticulous, and measured. He channels his bursts of rage into a vibrant, colorful, deeply Mediterranean cuisine.
A decisive transformation takes hold as he approaches eighteen: he earns his vocational baccalaureate in hospitality and catering with honors. He is 1.80 m, 70 kg, with brown hair and green eyes. At twenty-one, he marries Caroline Camerino, a Brazilian woman he meets at the city’s jazz festival. Together, they have a daughter, Laura.
The Story
On December 25, 1986, at 7:17 a.m., Martial is abandoned on a beach along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice—a newborn left on the pebbles near the Negresco, where the Neptune statue stands. He grows up in hardship, passed from foster homes to institutions, running away more than once.
At fifteen, he discovers cooking—an activity that gives him psychological stability. In the kitchen, he reveals an unexpected delicacy and refinement: a true transmutation in his way of being and in how he relates to others.
He excels quickly, rising through the ranks of the starred elite by taking over Le Chantecler, the Negresco’s restaurant—an intensely symbolic place for him. In 2011, he becomes a Meilleur Ouvrier de France. His crowning achievement arrives in February 2014: a third Michelin star, making him the youngest three-star chef in France.
On December 17, 2014, he travels to the village of Bauduen, on the shores of Lake Sainte-Croix, to meet a truffle producer he hopes to work with. On the way back, not far from the village, he crashes—losing control of his 4x4 at a junction leading to a forest track climbing toward the hill above the lake. An old man pulls him from the vehicle just before it explodes. Martial barely has time to hear the man’s name—Louis—and his enigmatic words before losing consciousness:
“I’m sorry, Martial. Your destiny is tied to our cross… please—save us.”
Seven days later, he wakes from an induced coma, surrounded by Caroline and Laura. Louis occupies his thoughts—yet no “Louis” appears in the accident report. Only a young shepherd, Jacky Saubin, is mentioned: he was heading down toward Bauduen and alerted emergency services minutes after the crash.
A year later, as Martial returns to work and leaves the trauma behind, he receives an unsettling visit from a notary in Nice, Maître Velbert. The notary informs him that he has inherited—through Louis Charpentier—an old farmhouse on a hillside overlooking Lake Sainte-Croix, near Bauduen, not far from the crash site. Louis’s sentence flashes back through Martial’s mind:
“Your destiny is tied to our cross… please, Martial—save us.”
From that moment on, nothing is the same. Nothing feels normal. Nothing remains rational—until Martial uncovers the terrible secret of “The House of Sainte-Croix.”
Pitch
The destiny of a Michelin-starred chef, born under X, who—after a deeply mysterious inheritance—will live an extraordinary adventure leading him to the very borders of his origins.
Synopsis
On December 25, 1986, at 7:17 a.m., Martial is abandoned on a beach along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice—a newborn left on the pebbles near the Negresco. He grows up in hardship.
In 2011, Martial has become a great chef at the head of Le Chantecler, the Negresco’s restaurant in Nice—a profoundly symbolic place for him, as it is where he was left twenty-five years earlier. There, he becomes a Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
In February 2014, he receives his ultimate consecration: a third Michelin star, becoming the youngest three-star chef in France.
On December 17, 2014, he travels to Bauduen, by Lake Sainte-Croix, to meet a truffle producer he wants to work with. On the return journey, he has an accident and loses control of his 4x4. An old man pulls him from the vehicle moments before it explodes. Martial hears the name Louis, then this cryptic line before blacking out:
“I’m sorry, Martial. Your destiny is tied to our cross… please—save us.”
A year later, after resuming his life and work, Martial is visited by a notary from Nice, Maître Velbert, who announces that Martial has inherited—through Louis Charpentier—an old farmhouse overlooking Lake Sainte-Croix, near Bauduen, close to the crash site. Louis’s words return:
“Your destiny is tied to our cross… please, Martial—save us.”
From that moment, nothing is the same—until Martial discovers the terrible secret of “The House of Sainte-Croix.”