Sunday 24 June 2018

La nuit a dévoré le monde/The Night Eats the World (2018)

I've said it before, the zombie genre never dies no matter how tired of it we all should be by now. But with recent films like Cargo, Train to Busan, The Girl With all the Gifts, and The Battery, these movies continue to remain engaging, insightful, and as long as they keep making great movies, it truly is the trope that doesn't die. Now The Night Eats the World (one of my favourite titles to a movie in a while - and sounds even better in French) comes along and continues this trend.

The best zombie movies are always about something other than zombies. This one is all about isolation. Our story follows, Sam, wakes up after the zombie apocalypse all alone in an apartment building in Paris. The story follows him as he makes a life living completely alone. He is seeking isolation at the beginning of the film and ends up getting far more of it than he ever dreamed possible.

At the centre of the film, and what likely makes it work as well as it does, is Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie. His performance is engaging and layered throughout, making it possible to watch what is essentially a one man show. His Sam (which he filmed in both French and English I understand so you can choose which language you want to watch it in) is potentially the last living person in the world and we, as his audience, have no one else to relate to. It is strikingly powerful to see his journey through this.

Writer/director Rocher does a great job on his first feature by capturing the ennui of this existence and making it watchable. He keeps the story tight while expressing the long loneliness of being disconnected. He also manages to instill some frightening chills, the zombies aren't just background, they are terrifying as well. Rocher pulls it all together beautifully in the most beautiful city in the world.

The Night Eats the World is not just a beautiful title, nor is it just another entry in a genre which should have overstayed its welcome a long time ago. It is a lovely, painful, and inspiring glimpse into our social nature as human beings.

La nuit a dévoré le monde/The Night Eats the World
Starring: Anders Danielsen Lie
Director: Dominique Rocher,
Writers: Dominique Rocher, Guillaume Lemans, Jeremie Guiz

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