2015 ‘Évolution’ Directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic
11-year-old Nicolas lives with his mother in a seaside housing estate. The only place that ever sees any activity is the hospital. It is there that all the boys from the village are forced to undergo strange medical trials that attempt to disrupt the phases of evolution.
Les films du Worso Noodles Production SCOPE Pictures Volcano Films Left Field Ventures Evo Films A.I.E.
Эволюция [Évolution]
Horror, the undead and monster classics Monsters, aliens, sci-fi and the apocalypse Intense violence and sexual transgression horror, creepy, eerie, blood or gothic scary, horror, creepy, supernatural or frighten creature, aliens, monster, sci-fi or scary monster, creature, dinosaurs, scientist or beast horror, gory, scary, killing or slasher Show All…
Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s unforgettably unsettling Evolution is set on a rustic island somewhere off the coast of France, perhaps in the stretch of azure sea between the YA dystopia of The Giver and the chilly urban streets of Under the Skin. It's a place where single women with white brows and black pupils raise a generation of young boys without fathers (nowhere to be seen).
During the days, the youths go swimming amongst the coral. At night, their mothers feed their kids a mush of curdled squid ink and inject their skinny arms with a vile sleep-inducing goop they refer to as “medicine.” One evening, a curious little boy named Nicolas (Max Brebant) manages to resist his dose, slipping out of the spartan house he shares with his mom (Julie-Marie Parmentier). He follows her to the shore, and that’s when things start to get weird.
67/100
A.V. Club review. Impatiently waited 11 years for more, but I didn't anticipate that this would be almost exactly the same film as Innocence, except with little boys substituted for little girls. Hadzihalilovic amps up the eerie grotesquerie this time, but still stubbornly refuses to explain anything; the nature and function of her unique worlds must be intuited, and whether/how they intersect with our own world (as suggested, in both cases, by the final scene) is likely a matter of personal preference. "Coming soon to a midnight movie theater near you," sniped A Critic Who Annoys the Mighty Fuck out of Me but Occasionally Gets Retweeted Into My Timeline (no doubt I'm that dude for many others), but there's…
A prime example of a film that will either float your boat or not, there won't be much middle ground.
Evolution is an oblique tale of humanity versus nature, childhood versus adulthood and gender versus gender.
Or it's just a creepy film about starfish, worm porridge and scary women experimenting on little boys.
Or it's both.
Or neither.
What I am sure of is that it is a singularly intriguing film that manages to convey an arthouse sensibility and blend it with a surreal (and serene) horror vibe that is both disturbing and mesmerising.
Most definitely one of the better genre films that just refuses to be one and thusly allows itself to be its own unique self. Kind of like the film's protagonist.
me, 30 minutes in, already bored out of my mind: well... maybe i'll just keep watching to see what tf is going on
movie: *explains nothing for 50 more minutes and starts rolling the credits*
me: ...well fuck me i guess
Isa's challenge, no. 20: a film with mostly/entirely a primary colour on the poster.
Under the sea!
Under the sea!
There's natal body horror
That'll make you go 'begorrah!'
Under the seeeeeeeeaaaaa!
Wholly bonkers fairytale of birth and adolescence from Lucile Hadžihalilović, Gaspar Noé's wife who is on a one-woman quest to make "Who's got the talent in that household?" the easiest question in the entire world to answer. What it all means may coalesce some time later; what matters is the mood and imagery. Perfectly slowly paced and interrupted by spells of remarkable queasy abstraction, it feels like a mid-period Cronenberg film that's had the dialogue and most - not all - of the gore edited out. What you're…
As a photographic exhibit it would be stunning. As a film it’s merely an aesthetic masquerade. It moves at a contemplative pace under the impression that it has some profound subversive narrative that warrants its slow drift. Ultimately, it’s the equivalent of a top notch cinematography reel on Vimeo extended into a feature.
“The water can make you imagine all sorts of things.”
french seaside body horror with mesmerizing visuals shifting from strange maternal utopia to boyhood nightmare. numbing coolness on the surface but total psychological dread beneath it. rather than indulging the gendered terror in exceedingly gruesome ways as others do, Hadzihalilovic gives the eerie a tender edge. a wondrous ancient merfolk myth clad in oceanic hues and darwinian imagination.
