La resurección de Louis Drax

This film tells the story of a young boy who falls off a cliff into the sea, and subsequently fall into a coma. His father is missing, and the mother is understandably distraught. A handsome doctor tries to help them all, but things may not appear as they seem.

"The 9th Life of Louis Drax" is full of surprises. It starts off like a children's film, then becomes romance, then fantasy, then mystery. These elements seamlessly mix into a captivating and engaging story that makes me glued to the screen. It makes me feel differently towards each character at different points of the film, which I think of indicative of how cleverly the story is constructed. The ending is a big surprise, and I would not have guessed it at all. I will be telling my friends about this great film. I really enjoyed it.

Louis has accidents – not the sort that can be cleaned up with a bit of effort but the sort that end in hospital. He has been having them for a long time. His beautiful mother appears to dote on him and then one day he has a near fatal fall from a cliff top – I mean if he is such a klutz why take him to a cliff edge – c'mon.

Anyway silly parental gaffs aside he is then taken under the wing of hunky, coma paediatrician expert, Dr Alan Pascal (Jamie Dornan) who thinks that it may be possible links that can be maintained through means yet to be understood by medical science. Thus begins a surreal, often warm and often twisted trip into the previous eight lives of the titular Louis Drax.

Now I actually quite enjoyed this it is adapted from the book – but I shall not compare the two. The cast are all above good and the special effects are both great and believable. It is a slow reveal and is the sort of film that you may only wish to see once (so go for a rental) but it is worth going for al the same.

But very interesting film.

When I saw the poster, I thought it was going to be Sci-Fi or Fantasy. Then I read the synopsis and it seemed like a psychological thriller: Louis Drax is a problem child that gets into a fatal accident that puts him into a coma, and the doctor tending over him gets to the roots of those problems to try to wake him.

At it's basic core, this is what the movie is, a psychological thriller. It also is a mystery as we uncover what happen to put the kid in this coma. What is different, is that the movie is narrated by the kid in the coma. His child like narrative contradicts the adult content.

The voice of Luis Drax starts off the movie, telling his story of a kid prone to accidents since he was a baby. It sets a tone you can't erase as his story and how it revolves around the people around his life becomes very adult.

The tone versus the story is really offsetting at times, but does make for some humorous moments as Louis' mother gets into a relationship with Dr. Pascal, the doctor tending over him. The music layered over the film does not help because it reinforces that children's book fantasy genre that clashes with the crime drama mystery.

Aaron Paul was brilliant in the movie as Luis Drax's loving father, Peter. His tone in the movie also is more centered on the children's book side of the movie.

The only problem with the movie, is that besides the children's fantasy combining the mystery, Thriller, The movie does and has other elements that don't jump out of nowhere necessarily, but don't fit the whole story. Dr. Pascal has a background that's perfect for helping Louis Drax and others find out what happen to him, but using this is too inconsistent and turns it into the Sci-fi movie that I thought it would be looking at the poster, but takes you out of what they are trying to do.

But overall, I liked what is going on with the 9th Life of Louis Drax. The kid who plays Louis Drax tells a great tale of scandal and mystery, from the point of view of a child. it's a compelling story uniquely told.

http://cinemagardens.com

"The 9th Life Of Louis Drax" starring Jamie Dornan and Sarah Gadon is haunting.. with the most heart-wrenching reveal/twist-ending since "The Sixth Sense." Based on Liz Jensen's novel, adapted by Max Minghell, and directed by Alexandre Aja who gave us various horror films from "The Hills Have Eyes," "Piranha 3D" to "Horns," his latest feat, THE 9TH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX is not designed to scare you, it's more of a murder whodunit mystery with a side of supernatural elements. The film is completely engrossing, not to mention this lead character, the kid named Louis Drax, excellently played by young talent, Aiden Longworth, is a character that has his perks, he's unlike any other kid, he's blunt. So when Louis Drax falls off a steep cliff on his ninth birthday, the police quickly blames the father (Aaron Paul) who's been missing since the incident. Jamie Dornan plays neurologist, Dr. Allan Pascal who's been trying to help his comatose patients including Louis, to regain consciousness. But there's a certain magnetic character in the room, Louis's mother, Natalie (Sarah Gadon) who carries her own secrets.

This is a film that has a twist ending, and so talking about it without giving too much away is honestly quite challenging. But here's what I'll say about THE 9TH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX, it brilliantly puts all kinds of theories in your head as to what really happened that fateful day, you wouldn't be able to guess which one is right or who's guilty. Another intriguing part is that all the characters are flawed, not just Louis who considers himself different from the other kids. Great multidimensional characters that draw you further and further into the mystery as it slowly but surely peals its layers before it lets you see the bigger picture, because up until that point, your focus would only be on the kid, Louis. It's quite refreshing to see director Aja take on this gig instead of his usual frightfest. THE 9TH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX is kinda of like the movie that M. Night Shyamalan never made.

-- Rama's Screen --

I was not expecting to like this film, but it wasn't actually that bad. I was intrigued by the promis of Jamie Dornan and Aaron Paul. Then upon viewing I still can't place where I know Sarah Gadon from, but she was fantastic. Intrigue, Murder and a weird kid makes for an entertaining movie!