Les affamés

This one went straight under my radar and I simply hadn't heard of it, had it not been for a recommendation I may not have come across it at all.

A multi award winning French Canadian effort this could be compared to the 28 Days Later (2002) franchise. In that our antagonists are not zombies but arguably just feral people.

I was struck by the creators choice to have the movie filmed in French. Canadian movies rarely are and it seems like a baffling choice, surely they know that English would have made it more accesible and how many people do not like subtitles.

Thankfully I'm not one of them so despite this weird choice I gave it a go and was left rather undecided.

Without a doubt The Ravenous is a pretty film, the cinematography is fantastic as is the score that goes with it. It tells your usual story of a group of survivors doing everything they can to stay alive during this outbreak and the characters are interesting enough.

Sadly it comes across really rather dull. I didn't expect nor want wall to wall action, that's not the issue. The issue is it just comes across quite lifeless, almost like creators knew how to make a visually impressive film but didn't know how to tell a story.

The Ravenous isn't bad, it's just underwhelming and despite it's multiple award wins I think it's still a title that will only appeal to a certain type of moviegoer.

With its junior Walter White lead and unexplained confusing plot points this failed to impress.

The Good:

Beautifully shot

Well scored

The Bad:

Frustratingly dark in places

Leaves a tad too much to the imagination

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Musical instruments should be a no.1 priority during the apocalypse

After an apocalypse where most of the population in a small location in the woods has turned into ravenous zombies, survivors join forces expecting to go to the protection of the big city. However their journey becomes hopeless when they learn what happened in other locations.

"Les affamés", a.k.a. "Ravenous", is a dismal and hopeless story of a sort of zombie apocalypse. The screenplay keeps the mystery and tension in the beginning with the lack of explanation to what is happening (and has happened). The lack of explanation why the ravenous creatures stack chairs and other objects and then stop to stare is another flaw in the story. The fool character has the intention to break the tension but is annoying indeed. In the end, "Les affamés" has a promising storyline that should (and could) have been better and better. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

This film manages well to give anxiety to the viewer even if it is very slow and without much sense accomplished to exist. The majority of the film is carried on thanks to the stupid choices of the protagonist that generate a terrible cascade effect.

I really liked this film. Its a very different take on the genre, with the emphasis on the need to be quiet to avoid attracting the zombies. Its a slow burn, but I think that helps build the tension, and it relies more on that than shock scares. The gore is minimal, but effective when used. It suggests there is more to the Zombies than just mindless eaters, but it doesn't really answer what. So it has a bit more brains in it (pun intended...) but is a good addition to the genre. Unlike many of the other Zombie films I've seen, most of which are over padded shorts.

The negative reviewers missed the nuanced point of this film. I am a huge dystopian post apocalyptic movie and zombie fan...and have seen most of them - even all the foreign ones. This one is refreshingly different, and I enjoyed it immensely, despite its flaws. It's not a film about surviving (such as The Walking Dead), but of just barely existing, and the tricks to the mind it plays.

The entire movie is filmed as if the viewer is in a mental dissociative dream state. Which you would be in a world such as this one. Far too many movies show unrealistic people who are always on their guard, never making mistakes, always able to survive with near super hero powers. Here we see real humans, who make inexplicable mistakes. However, this is a dissociative dream state world, we don't need the details, nor does what we see need to make any sense. There are no deep human relationships in this world...they have been destroyed. The allegory to our materialistic society is deeply amusing - as the afflicted show. There are also many realistic terrifying moments...usually quite fleeting (which makes them even more terrifying).

The musical score and photography are absolutely exquisite. The long creepy pauses, fog, deep forest, strange guttural screams, strange edits all add to a feeling of disassociation. The viewer becomes part of this surreal world. The suspense is found in the absolute quiet minimalism, the tiniest of sounds.

Too many negative reviewers whose movie goer experiences demand factual linear storytelling or action will not like this film. My take is it's an artful film I will watch several times again. Must see the reason for this dystopian world. It's alluded to after all the credits play. If you don't see it, you will never know why this world happened.