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Paul Hilton

Romane Hemelaers

Romola Garai

Alex Lawther

Peter van den Begin

Anastasia Robin

Michaël Pas

Isabelle De Hertogh

Marie Bos

Denis Bedlow

Benoît Biral

Ken Yasumoto

Anne Moralis

Geoff Cox

Lucile Hadžihalilović

Jonathan Ricquebourg

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Jeanne Fonsny

Jackye Fauconnier

Amélie Jacquis

Julien Dubourg

Christophe Hollebeke

Julia Irribarria

Sebastiàn Moradiellos

Cassandre Warnauts

Nicolas Becker

Augustin Viard

Lionel Le

Warren Ellis

Anne-Laure Declerck

Mathilde Wallez

Matt Coster

Jo Masset

Murray Barber

Henning Glabbart

Robin Stuart Cape

Sam Lucas

Robert Smedt

MJ Cunha

Amy Felce

Charlène Sales

Laurence Morel

Roz Gomersall

Celine Jacqmin

Théodore Brisset

Olivier Thys

Jean-Yves Roubin

Serge Catoire

Nanw Rowlands

Laurent Gooris

Adèle Edwards

Bruno Schweisguth

Maéva Buisse

Olivier Bisback

Emilie Nelis-Culot

Louise Toby

Sefian Benssalem

Amandine Grafé

Barbara Hellemans

Dan Martin

Gaspar Noé

Andrew Starke

Jean des Forêts

Brian Catling

CinemaSerf

What ever you do, don't have lunch immediately before you watch this. I made that mistake and a combination of pasta, a comfortable seat in a dark and warm cinema and the glacially slow nature of the story here made it nigh on impossible for me to keep my eyes open. From the outset, I struggled to correlate the title with any aspect of the plot as it unfolded (I think) before me. "Mia" (Ramane Hemelaers) is a young girl living in a shuttered-up house with little furniture. Her only companion is her carer "Scellinc" (Paul Hilton) who looks after her, and more importantly (and confusingly) her teeth. This rather mundane routine continues, interrupted only by their housekeeper and the occasional calls from their "masters". It is when one such call indicates that it is time for "Mia" to leave and travel to meet them that the story begins to intertwine with a parallel thread in which "Céleste" (Ramola Garai) - whom we know was involved in a nasty altercation with "Scellinc" in a bar that left her face disfigured - is travelling on the same train with her benefactor "Laurence" (Alex Lawther) who keeps her regularly supplied with laudanum to ease the pain. To say that the whole thing is surreal would be an understatement, and I - quite frankly - have no real idea what the last twenty minutes are meant to convey. There is a warning about gore with this film, but right til the very end I didn't spot any, and even then it was hardly shocking - indeed the whole film was just a pedestrian drama that left me pondering what it was really about, and for whom it was made. The photography looks good, though - plenty of attention to the detail of the overall aesthetic makes for a classy looking production but there is a real acuity of dialogue to help guide us along and I am afraid after very nearly two hours I really wasn't any the wiser.

Dark dark dark dark dark, makes David Lynch look like a sitcom.  If you enjoy (like I do) not really knowing what's going on, stories that are open ended and able to be interpreted any number of ways - this is a great film for you. I found myself wondering if it was an allegory, if it was about mankind and cruelty and life in general - and therefore, it was.  Beautifully photographed, the music is haunting, and the acting is superb. If you give yourself over to it and don't expect the constant Dopamine jolts of American Films, it's most enjoyable. Like a nice warm bath, you may find it relaxing to enter this dreamscape - or you may want to slit your wrists.  Or both.

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Paul Hilton

Romane Hemelaers

Romola Garai

Alex Lawther

Peter van den Begin

Anastasia Robin

Michaël Pas

Isabelle De Hertogh

Marie Bos

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