Évolution

A little like an abstract painting that refuses to represent recognizable subject matter in favor of expressing a "mood." Contrary to what others here have said, there *is* a story-line. The problem is that the underlying narrative structure is too basic to support so many elaborate, mystifying trappings.

It helps to know that the director based the movie on the experience she had when she was 10 and went to a hospital to get her appendix taken out. So given the main character's nightmarish attempt to figure out what's happening to him, we're basically seeing an elaborate series of puzzling visual metaphors for the director's disorienting personal experience as a child in hospital.

This movie isn't hiding anything or failing to be coherent. It just wants to be a darkly evocative visual collage instead of a straight-up narrative. Accordingly, it's rewardingly rich visually, but it's like a poem that sounds great but doesn't involve you in anything really important. All of the many unanswered questions it raises make it hard to let the visuals just wash over you.

In other words, behind all the evocative, disturbing imagery (again "unsettling" is the best word) it's *just* a retelling of a personal experience; there isn't a deeper message than "fear of the unknown." For me that wasn't enough.

The mood is conveyed. The story is told. It's just not terribly profound.

After watching the film I read some interviews with the writer/director Lucile Hadžihalilović and she mentioned how it had taken her a long time to get funding for this film. Never have I been less surprised. Not creepy enough to be a full blown horror film and too creepy to just be a pure art film.

The film is about a young pre-pubescent boy named Nicolas who lives on a remote island with his mother, several other women and other young boys around his age. He is told he is sickly by his mother and urged to eat a really wicked looking blue creation for his "health" and eventually has to go to a hospital where he is repeatedly operated on.

I won't spoil the movie, but Hadžihalilović isn't one for jump scares and Nicolas's illness and the reason for his hospital visits are made clear very early on. It all unfolds in a creepy atmospheric way so that the audience is aware of the bad things that are going on before Nicolas is, though he too learns the secret behind his illness soon enough.

The movie is very beautifully filmed with lots of stunning shots of the water and the seaside. However one thing I take issue with is how dark some of the shots were. Maybe it was the fault of the distributor for not cleaning up the shots but there are some nightime scenes where instead of being frightened I was merely confused because the screen looked pitch black.

Nevertheless the movie is very easy to follow on and the ultimate story and horror is pretty simple.

I'm not a horror fan so this was not really a movie for me, but for art fans who are looking for a slow scare, this might be for you.

I never write reviews, but I feel compelled in this instance to do so. It seems to me that this movie is done a grave injustice by giving it the moniker of "horror" film.

Horror implies a lot of things, and some of them are present here. There is a sense of unease and tension. The main character certainly has reason to doubt the sincerity of those who are "caring" for him. For some people, there are elements which might be "disturbing." However, the same can be said for films like Boys Don't Cry and Eraser Head. Though these two films have little to nothing in common either with each other or with Evolution, they two contain "distressing" elements, but are not horror movies.

The reason this seems important to me is that horror comes with expectations that this film is not meant to fulfill. This film would better be viewed with the idea, instead, that it is portraying, beautifully, an archetypal dream world, that it is something of a Jungian fantasy.

It is full of references to the chthonic nature of the mothers - the ocean, the cave, dark mysterious rooms, the mysterious nature of the mothers themselves. The androgynous nature of the mothers is important, as well. The doors left open through which the boy can, if he chooses, pass.The boy's sketch book in which he draws his OWN archetypes, ferris wheels and cars among other things which we are to understand are not among those he has consciously experienced is perhaps the most brilliant example. All of these things are part of the boy's hero myth, of his gradual act of individuation as he questions his way through this world. There are two possible fates awaiting this boy as there are for any active mind. Will he passively accept his fate among the mothers, or will he rebel? The thing is, you don't have to be interested in psychology to feel these things - they are natural. They are dream elements, and this film is, in a way, a beautiful dream. If it is watched without an expectation of that which makes a horror movie "horrible," there are layers and layers here that can be enjoyed without reference to terminology. You can FEEL them. You can SEE them.

In the latter department, this film succeeds wondrously. Every single frame is perfectly positioned to draw us in. It is glorious to look at. The score is also very subtle and beautiful.

It really is an amazing film. I just think you have to come at it with as few preconceptions as possible. And you definitely should leave the notion of "horror" at the door. If, then, you DO experience horror, it will be a genuine reaction, and if you don't, you won't feel like the film has failed you.

Nicolas lives in an isolated and decrepit French coastal town. The only inhabitants are boys and older women. The food is about as palatable as a botulism sandwich and all the boys have to take 'medicine' as they are all sick.

Then one day Nicolas goes swimming and discovers the body of a dead boy. He then starts to question what is going on and sets out to discover the truth.

Now this is a short film lasting only 79 minutes and the dialogue is sparse, however all the screen time is put to excellent use. The SFX are all top notch and the boys are superb in what are very physical roles. It is a slow burn but that is offset by a very stylised and stylish picture palette that uses vivid colours to great effect and the cinematography and framing of the shots gives it an art-house feel that just oozes quality. It is not a film to 'enjoy' as the subject matter is so dark but it is one you can admire – hence my rating.

This is not a movie for everyone - or at least - you should be aware that it's not a Sci-fi nor a horror movie as we know them - before selecting this movie.

The movie is beautiful - it is just like meditation at the sea. I guarantee lower blood pressure after watching this move. I loved it. (It almost reminds me to the universe of Myst - the old computer game from the 90s- where you are totally alone on a abandoned Island and you don't know how you got there.)

Furthermore - the move makes you think. It may be a far future situation or it may be a dream of a child. As children we can have fantasies or anxiety for loosing our parents - or we may misenterpret a situation as dangerous etc. this movie may be a dream or a post apocalyptic movie.

Either way - this movie works, but I understand that some people don't like it. This is like entering a gallery. Sometimes you are not in the mood. But, if you are - this movie is unique and genial.

A true artwork.