JvH48

Saw this at the film festival Ghent 2025, part of the section Artists on Film. Main course seems to be social commentary on France, its bureaucracy and its state institutions, the latter not always working together in the interest of the general public, often clinging to their independence regardless the case in question.

A parallel story about an architect with grand ideas and attention for detail, who however is not prepared to compromise when institutions come in the way of his perceived end goal. Even when the French president is personally involved in the proceedings, it does not help in ironing away the obstacles.

All in all, it covers many contemporary topics in one single story, keeping us interested from start to finish. As a final remark: I was glad that the Danish architect could speak French fluently. There were no silly misunderstandings on the linguistic level and no time lost on translations/interpreters.

Seen this at the Imagine (sf/horror/fantasy) film festival 2025 in Amsterdam. I think that the road to the finale is far better than the finale itself, as the latter leaves much to our imagination, if not overly mixed feelings. Conclusion for me is that we are left behind empty-handed, much less than what could have been made from given ingredients.

The interaction between the two parents is the main course of the story, taking some 90% of the running time. What they hear from their daughter is confusing and distressing. At first sight nothing special, as the daughter is clearly in some form of panic mode and cannot think straight. Add to that a past case where the mother, as a former paramedic, incorrectly diagnosed a panic attack and did all the wrong things, an experience that still sticks in her mind and resurfaces again here.

Why did the daughter not call the emergency line?? Those people know what to do and will offer guidance. The daughter was probably high on some drug, complicating things when her car accident is investigated by the police, maybe jeopardizing her future study and career. The father offers as a "solution" that the daughter does nothing at all, just wait for the parents to arrive, in which case the father can state that he was driving, since he can easily prove to be free from drugs or alcohol. Moving the body out of sight was also one of his suggestions. Of course, we know as rational viewers from a safe distance, that either won't help, and the police will find out anyway.

Indeed, it would have been a desperate act that might hamper the career of her father, probably complicating lives for all of them. But... that is what parents do. It may make matters even worse if and when it was to come out. If all else fails, another proposed excuse would be, as explanation towards the police, that the daughter heard that she was (unexpectedly) pregnant, fled the house in her father's car without his permission, and thus was not in a clear state of mind and driving recklessly, unable to avoid the accident when someone suddenly came out of the bushes.

The above offers more than enough material for the plot, to point out what the core of this movie is. We can easily imagine the two parents arguing underway, speculating what is going on at the other end of the phone connection, and thinking of what-to-do when arriving at the accident location.

Add to that a passing couple at the other end of the line (we hear but don't see them), who interfere in the dialog between parents and daughter. They state that the victim is alive, contrary to everything what the daughter told them. Here comes the/my confusion, especially due to the couple's statement "we see that you are pregnant, and we will correct that situation too."

For spoiler's sake, I leave out the rest. In the final scene we see the police busy with the usual forensic instruments to establish what happened. It also shows the parents sitting along the road in apparent desperation mode. Anyway, it leaves several open endings about what really happened.

All in all, this movie is a plausible demonstration of human behavior, especially when parents are bending backwards to protect a child. The ending is not really important, rather the way we arrive there.

Seen this at the Imagine (sf/horror/fantasy) film festival 2025 in Amsterdam. It takes some time to get used to the slow pacing, but it is essentially the way these people survive the harsh weather conditions they live in. It takes lots of time and effort to find and catch food. Traditions, family/parents and the elders of the tribe have important roles. For the unexplainable rest there is a side role for superstition and beliefs in trolls and other non-human creatures.

All this has been perfectly shown in this story. It is a world we have difficulties imagining, given the comfort of our living nowadays. This movie reminds us of what a basic way of living looks like under harsh weather conditions and with primitive tools. (A side remark: I wonder how these people can survive on only fish and flesh, at least I saw no trace of vegetables or other food supplements we cannot do without.) Though centering around a love story, the movie works rather like a documentary for me. The introductory address by one of the festival programmers warned us about things we probably would not understand. For instance, using names like "little sister" and "big sister", where these names did not look fitting for the two involved, obviously given many years before and glued to them forever. Apart from the names used, it was not always easy to know who-was-who and who was related to whom. A few time jumps added to my confusion, of course not the intention of the film makers. A second viewing might clarify much.

All in all, as said before, this movie worked for me not as a love story but rather as a documentary about living conditions long before our time, coping with unforgiving weather and a harsh climate, much time needed to find food and material for clothing and making tents. Survival is a full-time job here. Forming tribes and families and traditions are crucial building blocks. The term "survival of the fittest" does not apply to individuals but to the groups assembled from people working and living together. Only in groups they can survive, and the individual is less prominent in these communities.