Papillon (2018)

Papillon never finds traction. Shot beautifully (if somewhat fetishized) the story never truly finds a groove to get its audience immersed enough in it to resonate. Its harrowing tale, both feels drawn out and rushed, both glossed over and excruciatingly detailed. For me Papillon never gelled and felt like a whole lot of nothing.

Based on the true story of a man, wrongly convicted, sentenced to an unreasonably horrific prison for life, Papillon never decides if it's going to be an escape film, a prison drama, or weird exploitation film. Director Noer ogles the male bodies consistently throughout the film yet, just as consistently, degrades any hint of homoeroticism. This is only one of the ways the film feels schizophrenic. Like in all its identities, it can't seem to settle on one.

At the centre of the film is Charlie Hunnam giving one of his typically wooden performances, and Rami Malek, going over the top as he often can. Neither works for this film.

So Papillon ends up a mostly boring, if lushly luminous, two hours and ten minutes that feel a bit like a sentence in itself.

Papillon
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek
Director: Michael Noer
Writer: Aaron Guzikowski