Fear has no boundaries! This is what the jurors of the Gérardmer International Fantasy Film Festival proved. South Korea and Argentina won the highest awards. The Grand Prize being awarded to Sleep by Korean Jason Yu in theaters on February 21 and that of critics and the public at When Evil Lurks by Argentinian Demián Rugna, our favorite who will be in theaters on April 17, 2024.
Sleep, the first film by Bong Joon-ho’s assistant, was discovered at Cannes Critics’ Week. We find the charm of the latter’s works in this social criticism which sometimes makes us think of Parasite. The nightmare of a young woman whose husband is the victim of terrible, increasingly violent sleepwalking attacks haunts the viewer for a long time by scarring Korean society. It is the same for When Evil Lurks where a case of possession in the Argentinian countryside leads to a gory tale that is also a political fable. These two films dominated the competition and did not steal their awards.
Amalia’s Children by Gabriel Abrantes, which comes out next Wednesday, and Waiting for the night by Céline Rouzet shared the jury prizes. These two endearing films focus on family, the first introducing a thirty-year-old orphan to his rather special mother and brother. The second by offering an original variation on the theme of vampirism. Greatly forgotten in the list, The Funeral, a Turkish film by Orçun Behram, made festival-goers chuckle with its original title: “Cenaze”. This horrific road movie deserves better than this bad joke. We follow the tribulations of a hearse driver transporting the remains of a young woman who is perhaps not quite dead.
On the sidelines of the competition
Outside of competition, some good surprises also illuminated this 31st edition with a huge favorite for The Soul Eater by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. This thriller flirting with the fantastic takes Virginie Ledoyen and Paul Hamy to the Vosges in search of missing children. Its deadly atmosphere and its plot rich in surprises increased the tension of festival-goers during a triumphant special screening which bodes well before its release on April 3.
The fun It’s A Wonderful Knife by Tyler MacIntyre, for his part, relaxed the atmosphere by parodying “slashers” and other films where psychopathic killers keen on bladed weapons hunt down more or less tough victims. This very gory comedy should be distributed in France this fall. Although the action takes place during Christmas, it seems perfect for Halloween.
Significant events
This edition also had some great highlights with Gareth Evans’ master class and the presentation of the first images of Under the Seine by Xavier Gens. A shark invades Paris before the Olympic Games in this promising horror film that Netflix will broadcast this summer. Enough to wait patiently for the next edition of a festival that is still as dynamic as ever to bring the Fantastic to life in forms as diverse as they are varied.