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

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.

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

The strength of this French language zombie film is that is relies on tension rather than action to produce thrills. Set on the Canadian countryside, a group of survivors are hunted by hungry zombies, creatures whose behavior at times eerily echoes of their previous consciousness. The story's rather small scale, the lack of a universal scope to this zombie apocalypse, gives it an intimate feel. And the silence of the rural setting, occasionally broken by zombies screaming, is as haunting as it is strangely moving.

I really wanted to like this. I was highly anticipating it, and it looked absolutely awesome. Unfortunately, while the score is very appropriate and the cinematography is beautiful, there's no other reason to watch this. There's no plot. No character development. There no reasoning for anything they do or for what happens. There is a lot of silence, standing around, and making bad choices, though.

Honestly, a huge disappointment for me.