12/18
Three women in an apartment in Marseille get stuck in a heatwave. They find themselves trapped in a terrifying relationship and long for freedom. I saw it at the Ghent film festival 2024. Lots of beautiful and intriguing ideas. However, so many annoying elements also turn this film into a not so perfect experience. The controversial reviews I read are understandable and a logical result. One of the annoying things is that I have a vague idea that the story is trying to educate us on how to interact with women, when they say No it means No, but we already got that and it needs no introduction. Other annoying examples are that the three female protagonists act in a messy and counterproductive way, while trying to remove the traces of a crime, hopefully not with the intent of exposing it as typically feminine. All these annoying parts overshadow the serious moments of this film. As a seasoned horror fan, I have no objection to blood, or screams, or severed body parts (and the dangerous hardware to make it that way). Even naked, semi- or fully-dressed bodies are no problem. Keep in mind that we see a lot of nudity in various stages of undress (is there such a word??), both at home and in public. For me, it’s all decoration, which doesn’t contribute much, unfortunately it hides the good parts of the film, the very original plot and the perfect acting of the main characters. Most of the characters that appear in this film are a bit vague about what they do and who they are. The only people who are clearly delineated are the couple at the beginning, where a man complains about his wife, after which she takes drastic measures, later saying that her husband tripped and fell on a shovel. We have to wait until the end to see the police escort her out in handcuffs, most likely not fully believing the explanation of her husband’s death. This story is just a side dish, however. The highlight of the film is the interaction between three women on one side of the street with a handsome man on the other. In contrast to the simple story with the aforementioned couple and the deadly shovel, it is impossible to even offer a hint for the numerous complications that arise from the three women visiting the opposite apartment. One of the women stays with him, probably waiting for a happy pajama party, but the rest of the story is completely different and unexpected and unprecedented. They have to deal with bloody remains, not an everyday task for people like you and me, inexperienced in crime matters. And they have to deal with concerned neighbors who suspect something is wrong. And on top of that, ghostly figures begin to appear, not visible to everyone, therefore particularly complicated. Just a few hints I can give you, to say that this story is very unusual, offers very original plot elements and gives us unpredictable turns of events. All in all, a lot of original ideas, some even intriguing. But some negative elements, maybe negative only for me and only for me, turn this film into a half success. It is not a traditional horror film built on atmosphere or disturbing situations. There is blood, severed body parts and ghostly figures, but despite this it will turn into a different kind of horror, in which there is also room for humor.
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