“Classy Vampire Chic”: Lyas Reviews the New Cronenberg Film at Cannes

TUESDAY MAY 21, 2024 3:10 PM, CANNES.

After being hungover for seven days straight and serving 2000s MTV reporter sleaze in his Saint Laurent tux, Lyas is here to give us the scoop on Saint Laurent Productions’ latest cinematic endeavors at Cannes 2024. After “slaying the fucking Croisette” in his sexy vampiric look alongside his fellow YSL muses Bella Hadid and Nadia Lee Cohen, Lyas attended the premiere of David Cronenberg’s new dystopian film The Shrouds, one of three films—including Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez and Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope—premiering at the festival and produced by Saint Laurent. According to our favorite red carpet correspondent, the film revolves around a futuristic cemetery run by Vincent Cassel and stars the queen of Cannes herself, Diane Kruger. Safe to say, in typical Cronenberg fashion, it’s definitely “giving body horror,” as he told our Digital Editor Jake Nevins.

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JAKE NEVINS: Hey, Lyas. How are you?

LYAS: I’m good. The sun is shining. Cannes is beautiful. Are you in New York?

NEVINS: I am. To be honest, it’s beautiful here too. What’s good in Cannes?

LYAS: It’s been fab as fuck. I’ve been hungover for seven days now, which is kind of iconic. But we’ve been slaying the fucking Croisette with Dara and with my friends. We’ve been working and going out every day. We’ve been doing a lot of meetings. The serve has been nonstop.

NEVINS: Is this your first Cannes?

LYAS: No, I think it’s my third. But I just love it. The energy. Have you ever been?

NEVINS: I haven’t but I’m so jealous. I want to watch movies and party.

LYAS: It’s amazing. I told myself I’m only going to wear a Saint Laurent tuxedo for all 12 days of Cannes, so that’s what I’ve done. It smells a bit, but it’s still fitting me perfectly. 

NEVINS: More on the Saint Laurent tuxedo, please.

LYAS: I’ve had the support of Saint Laurent for this whole trip to Cannes. I’m giving reporter, I’m giving MTV in the 2000s. And that’s what I wanted. MTV used to do these Cannes reports and they were kind of trashy and rock, but under the sun. They were interviewing girls with big boobs on the Croisette. I wanted to give that sense of opulent jet-setter. I hope the deepness of the black of the Saint Laurent suit is evoking that. 

NEVINS: I think it is. So Saint Laurent Productions has three features at Cannes, including the new David Cronenberg film called The Shrouds.

LYAS: Yeah, I’ve seen that. And the other one, Emilia Perez, also premiered at Cannes and everyone thinks it’s going to win the Palme d’Or. Selena Gomez is in it. And the Cronenberg premiere, oh my god—

NEVINS: What was the vibe? Who slayed?

LYAS: Bella [Hadid] walked the red carpet in Saint Laurent, which was her comeback after a year of no red carpets. It was stunning. I walked the red carpet with Nadia Lee [Cohen]. She was stunning, too. She actually wiped the glitter off my lips just before I walked the carpet.

NEVINS: That’s so sexy. 

LYAS: It is. And I had black contact lenses. 

NEVINS: Woah. Very Saint Laurent.

LYAS: It was a moment. And it’s going over well on social media now. 

NEVINS: Could you see…?

LYAS: Yes, but everything was a bit darker. There were moments when I felt like I had glasses on and I thought about taking them out, but I was like, “No, too expensive.”

NEVINS: That’s very Cronenberg, though. 

LYAS: Exactly. I wanted something that was giving body horror: a creature, a monster, a vampire, maybe. And Saint Laurent fits that vibe. Classy vampire chic, that subtle touch that adds the drama that’s necessary to make the moment happen. And I think I did. 

NEVINS: So like, what’s going on in The Shrouds?

LYAS: Okay, so The Shrouds is a movie about death, but a dystopian approach to death. Think of a cemetery that has screens on the tombstones where you can see the dead body inside and the stages of disintegration. That’s the basis of the movie. But then, at some point, something happens. Vincent Cassel is the owner of this tech cemetery. His wife recently died and he’s looking at the camera because he wants to see her and he notices something weird on her body, little things on her bones. And the story goes on from there, they’re trying to figure out what the fuck is happening to those bones. A couple of the other bodies in the cemetery have the same things on their bones. 

NEVINS: Oh my god.

LYAS: And Diane Kruger plays two characters, the ex-wife and the sister of the wife that died. 

NEVINS: Diane is kind of the queen of Cannes, right?

LYAS: She literally is the queen of Cannes. She’s so fun at the after-party. We poured champagne. We joked a lot together. She’s fun and she doesn’t care. She was with Ellen Vandenberg and they just took photos and danced all night.

NEVINS: That’s how you do Cannes. Before I let you go, what’s next for you?

LYAS: Tonight is Parthenope, the third Saint Laurent movie at Cannes. It’s an Italian movie and apparently it’s going to be amazing.  

NEVINS: Sick. Enjoy!