16/24
Lots of nice and intriguing ideas
Scenario
Three women in an apartment in Marseille are stuck in a heatwave. They find themselves trapped in a terrifying affair and long for freedom. Saw this at the 2024 Ghent Film Festival. Yet so many annoying elements make this film a less than perfect experience. The controversial reviews I’ve read are understandable and a logical consequence.
Naked bodies, half or fully undressed, aren’t a problem either
One of the annoying things is that I have a vague idea that the story is trying to teach us how to deal with women, if they say no, it means no, but we already get that and it doesn’t need introducing. Other annoying examples are that the three female protagonists act messily and counterproductively while trying to clean up the traces of a crime, hopefully not with the intention of exposing this as typically female. All these annoying parts overshadow the serious moments in this film. As a seasoned horror lover, I don’t mind the blood, the screaming, or the severed body parts (and the dangerous hardware that does that). Keep in mind that we see a lot of nudity in various stages of undress (is there such a word??), both indoors and in public.
This story, however, is just a side dish
To me, it’s all just decoration that doesn’t add much and unfortunately obscures the good parts of the film, the very original plot and the perfect acting of the main protagonists. Most of the characters that appear in this film are a bit vague in what they do and who they are. The only people who are clearly defined are the couple at the beginning, where a man complains about his wife, after which she takes drastic measures and later tells that her husband tripped and fell into a shovel. We have to wait until the end to see that the police escort her in handcuffs, most likely not fully believing the explanation for her husband’s death. The main part of the film is the interaction between three women on one side of the street and a handsome man on the other.
And they must deal with concerned neighbors who suspect something is wrong
Unlike the straightforward story with the aforementioned couple and the deadly shovel, it is impossible to give even an idea of the many complications that arise from the three ladies’ visit to the apartment opposite. One of the women stays with him, probably in anticipation of a merry pajama party, but the rest of the story is completely different and unexpected, as well as unprecedented. Bloody remains must be cleaned up, not an everyday task for people like you and me who have no experience with crime. And to top it all off, ghostly figures appear that are not visible to everyone, which complicates things even more. I can only give you a few hints, namely that this story is very unusual, offers very original plot elements and gives us unpredictable turns of events.
All in all, a lot of original ideas, some even intriguing
But some negative elements, perhaps just for me and me alone, make this film a somewhat successful film. It is not a traditional horror that relies on atmosphere or scary situations. There is blood, severed body parts and ghostly figures, but it still becomes a different kind of horror where there is also room for humor.