A film à clef (or cinéma à clef, movie à clef,[1] film à clé (French pronunciation: [film a kle]), French for "film with a key") is a film describing real life, behind a façade of fiction.
[2] "Key" in this context means a table one can use to swap out the names.
Film à clef is the film equivalent of the literary roman à clef, and the two share the same techniques.
[1] Many films à clef are biopics of Hollywood personalities.
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