Director: Quarxx
Year: 2023
Country: France
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
After a devastating car accident, several survivors get up from the wreckage only to realize they are involved in an existential crisis over their past indiscretions coming back to haunt them, and after learning of the fates of several others like them must find a way to deal with their situation.
Review:
This was a highly disappointing and pretty underwhelming genre effort. The only aspect that really works well here is the initial setup and how it all starts which manages to bring about a highly effective use of chilling imagery to figure out what's going on. The whole idea of the characters being stuck in the afterlife with no idea themselves comes about rather well and the moody location offers the kind of intriguing starting point that gets this going on a high note. As well, with the way the films' approach to things includes a well-worn treatise on grief and the processing of trauma the way he comes across the other individuals who are stuck there like they are manages to be a highly effective setup that discusses the nature of sin in such a way as to be quite impressive overall.
Beyond that, though, there's not a whole lot to say about this one since the structure of what's going on isn't all that enjoyable. This is due to the anthology structure present which makes very little sense for how it's incorporated. The inclusion in the middle of the film with very little warning that isn't that interesting beyond a one-note setup makes for some cliched stereotype setpieces to come about while only dealing with some rather bland and pedestrian themes. That they take up so much of the running time in the middle of the film offers up the kind of non-genre guilt trip that these stories are based on that it feels so shoehorned into this with the story of the murderous child being so confusing with where it takes place and how it all comes together with the imaginary friend that it's hard to enjoy it while the second story is barely genre-related at all about the bullied teen with so much of it about the mother's guilt for what happened. These aren't that interesting to watch and really just turn this off overall.
Overview: */5
An overall interesting enough effort but has more issues elsewhere that drag it down, this is quite flawed as the detrimental factors here are big enough to really hold this back. Those who are more appreciative of this style or are curious about its approach might have something to like here but most others should heed caution with this one.
This review is a part of our coverage of the 2023 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival. Click the banner below to see our complete coverage of the festivities:
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