Zombi Child

Intriguing meld of supernatural horror and teen angst has too much on its plate, attempting a larger, somewhat heavy-handed critique of French colonialism (with some eye-rollingly literal speechifying) combining it with the duelling narratives of Louimat's reconciliation of her cultural identity and Labeque's mooning over an ex-boyfriend. As eclectic as it sounds, and it never comes together, with the two girls fighting for lead character status. Some effectively creepy moments towards the end.

After Bonello's previous two movies this was a let-down. The last 15 minutes or so does have some of his cinematic magic, but both of the narrative strings, one about a real-life zombie in 1960s Haïti and one about teenage girls in a contemporary Parisian boarding school, leading up to this feel underdeveloped. Plus it ends very weirdly unfinished to me. This feels like a waste of what could have been a very fresh realistic take on the zombie genre

Viewed October 1, 2019.

18. Filmekimi - Beyoğlu Sineması.

It has its really inspired moments -- mostly the 1962 Haiti stuff -- but it feels over-expository for a film that relies so much on mystery and weight of history on present people. The white characters seem like a waste of time, specially the central one, Fanny, and it struggles to connect both narratives in a satisfying way. The ritual scenes, both in Haiti and in France, are truly striking. A film of many great moments, but unfortunately not a great one.

Zombi Child is more atmosphere than story, as the film languidly reaches its climax before abruptly & underwhelmingly ending. The script is fairly clever, leveraging haughty lectures on French colonialism against Haiti's legacy of enslaved "zombies". Unfortunately, the vast amount of teenage angst overshadows Mélissa's societal gripes. A good cast, strong performances, and a mesmerising possession scene add value to the film; but the dual aspect doesn't satisfactorily come together by the end.

The movie itself is not bad, but it works more as a sociological study on haitian immigration and culture than as a horror movie, which is what I expected. There is no horror here. None.

like usual i'm basically aligned with bonello's perspective, but you gotta make a movie out of it man. if you start with a lecture about the ouroboric nature of revolutions and end with a haitian man declaring "it's over, i'm not a slave anymore", the middle needs to be more than a 1-4-1 zombie-slave metaphor, a heartbroken white chick appropriating voodoo and a young PoC self-actualising by proclaiming poetry into the camera and making Suspiria grunting noises in the bathroom cubicle.