Review: 2023’s ‘Pandemonium’ is Nihilisme Démoniaque et Toast
PANDEMONIUM is a screener from our friends at Arrow Films. A new French slow-burn about the afterlife, Brannyk ventures into the beyond…@arrowvideo
Trigger warning: suicide, hanging and murder
PANDEMONIUM is a screener from our friends at Arrow Films (more info at the end of the review) and brought to us by writer/director (and mixed media artist), Quarxx.
Director Quarxx (All the Gods in the Sky) explores the peculiar, welcoming all those hungry for wonder, in Pandemonium, a unique cinematic blend of fantasy, drama, genre, and humour. The film takes the viewer on a chilling journey as three interconnected stories unravel in this macabre exploration of tales depicting fallen souls. From the intricacies of everyday drama to the realms of supernatural intrigue, each narrative weaves a haunting tapestry that blurs the lines between the mortal and the supernatural. – Arrow Video
PANDEMONIUM stars Arben Bajraktaraj, Hugo Dillon, Ophélia Kolb, Carl Laforêt, and Manon Maindivide, and is rounded out with an impressive cast and crew. You can find it streaming here: https://www.amazon.com/Pandemonium/dp/B0CV7GW1QD and https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/umc.cmc.26kz22j93v0iwvm8uxnrmod6h.
But what is PANDEMONIUM and will it have that certain je ne sais quoi (my limited French, Je m’excuse)? Well, laissez-nous découvrir!
THE PLOT OF PANDEMONIUM:
On a snowy mountainside, Nathan (Dillon) awakes to a horrific crash. His car has been flipped upside-down but miraculously, he has survived. He’s met by Daniel (Bajraktaraj), a stranger who was also part of the crash.
As they begin to slowly piece together what has happened, two doors suddenly appear before them, leading to the ultimate answer to all their questions…
THOUGHTS ON PANDEMONIUM (spoilers):
Let me get this out of the way first – the end is a mess. It feels thrown together and stitched up hastily. It doesn’t match the rest of the tone, nor does it lead to anything satisfying. Maybe that was the point, but with the rest of the pacing of the film, it was too lack-luster and sudden.
With that being said – holy smokes! PANDEMONIUM was right up my alley. As the poster suggests, the film has three parts. The first is on the snowy mountainside with Nathan and Daniel reasoning that they’ve died in the crash and are presented the door to Hell.
The second part is Nathan walking through the wastelands of the “waiting room” of Hell, being able to see people’s sins by touching their lifeless bodies. He sees the sins of a psychopathic little girl (the utterly amazing Maindivide) and a mother and daughter.
The last part is being ushered into the first level of Hell where he’s barely stepped a foot in and is killed by a demon, being reborn, but then eaten by the demon so he doesn’t become an antichrist…Yeah, it kinda lost the momentum and logic in that last part.
It felt like all three segments could have been their own films, to be honest, because they all had enough to them. The first being what is sin, why Nathan and Daniel are there and what it means to be there. The second being an anthology of sinners. And the third being what happens when a sinner is killed in Hell. The first two it manages to pull off well enough in a nihilistic look at the afterlife, humanity, and worldbuilding of Hell. The third part is literally a few minutes that really needed to be cut or expanded on.
Regardless, the writing is spot-on, being able to touch on philosophy, humanity, and humor. It’s hard to toe the line for humor, horror and in-depth discussions of the afterlife and death. Quarxx surprising writes it with ease and skill, being just tongue-in-cheek enough but never veering into something too dismal or edge lord territory. In a way, it’s not his story but the story of everyday people in extraordinary situations that feel close enough to being ordinary. We can see ourselves within these characters or can empathize with them while still being disgusted by their actions. Well done, Quarxx.
The acting is absolutely wonderful, ranging from dramatic to humorous, from deplorable to relatable. Everyone was stellar with their performance and in a very short amount of time given to their characters, each character stands out. Bajraktaraj and Dillon had great chemistry – being bitter, consolatory, and rivalry towards each other. Their relationship was fascinating to watch.
Maindivide is one of the best child actresses I’ve ever seen in horror, being able to be utterly menacing and terrifying. Along with her imaginary friend, Tony the Monster, whom she makes toast for, we get caught into her world of fantasy and destruction. That scene of the foreboding oven had me saying, “No, they’re not going to…” But yeah, yeah, Quarxx went there and with Maindivide’s performance, it was utterly brutal.
The cinematography, the sets, the prosthetics, the lighting, the music – stunning. Full applause. Everything fits so well into each other. Each piece is a work of art woven into a weird and wonderful film about death and what lies beyond it.
BRAINROLL JUICE (spoilers):
What makes one irredeemable? What makes one a sinner to be cast down into an afterlife of pain and agony? A bold act? A mistake? A mental illness? A situation? A technicality?
In PANDEMONIUM, all of the above. Nathan knows too quickly, while pleading his case, that he is not meant for Heaven. He murdered his wife in what he begs was a “mercy killing”. Daniel was almost let into heaven but then forced into Hell on a technicality after accidentally killing a child in the crash. Nina is a killer, sure, but also a psychopath born into her tendencies from a young age. The mother and daughter (sorry, I don’t remember their names and I couldn’t find them on IMdB, but they’re great, too) are there because the teen committed suicide after being bullied at school and the mother had dismissed the bullying as a “buck it up” situation.
It’s what we all ask ourselves, isn’t it? What lies in the beyond? What are the rules? Which god, if any, is real? Which sin, if any, is too big of a sin?
It hits home. During having this screener, someone who was very close to me passed away. And with her being Catholic, there were many rituals carried out that I had become part of – rosaries spoken, last rites performed, prayers spoken and funeral mass. It’s a part of my background and culture that I haven’t been part of for a long, long time. And throughout the process, it all lead back to afterlife, obviously. Where was she to go when her body ended its functions and purpose? That she of her personality, conscious, memory, life-force – her ‘soul’?
PANDEMONIUM is the worst-case scenario in all its tongue-in-cheek nihilistic glory. But with it also comes a powerful message: humor persists in all times. Even at our darkest moments, in the purest of pain, there can be that small, microscopic atom of humor that lights the darkness with its soft laughter. Not fully, but enough.
And when things are funny, they’re also often less scary and much more manageable.
BOTTOMLINE OF PANDEMONIUM:
If slow-burn artistic and funny French films about Hell are your jam, get some toast for Tony the Monster and enjoy. Even with the ending, it’s worth the watch.
(4 / 5)
AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR DISTRIBUTOR:
Pandemonium, the latest feature from filmmaker Quarxx (All the Gods in the Sky). The film made its world premiere at Neuchâtel and went on to screen at Fantasia, Frightfest, Fantasy FilmFest, Sitges, Grimmfest, Trieste and Screamfest and you can see it at home on ARROW with a host of brand new extras! Pandemonium will also be available on all major VOD platforms, include Apple TV and Prime Video.
From Arrow Films, a recognized world-leader in curation and creation, ARROW is a premium platform giving audiences an unparalleled viewing experience across multiple devices, so fans can explore the films and TV shows that the Arrow brand is famous for.
Specially curated by members of the ARROW team, ARROW is home to premium film and TV entertainment, exclusive new premieres, cutting edge cinema, international classics and cult favorites – such as the works of Lars Von Trier, Brian De Palma, Dario Argento, David Cronenberg and Park Chan-wook, and brand-new short films from both new and established filmmakers.
For more information on Pandemonium, ARROW and its titles, please contact: justin@justincookpr.com or visit https://www.arrow-player.com.
Thank you, Arrow!
Movies n TV
Returning to the Soothing World of Evil with “The Demon of Death”
“The Demon of Death” is the season 3 premiere of the supernatural drama Evil, created by Michelle King and Robert King.
“The Demon of Death” is the season 3 premiere of the supernatural drama Evil, created by Michelle King and Robert King. The central cast includes Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Michael Emerson, Christine Lahti, and Andrea Martin. As of this review, it’s available through Netflix and Paramount+ and its add-ons.
The assessors investigate the weight of a soul. Father Frank Ignatius (Wallace Shawn) agrees to participate in this test despite his growing disillusionment. David (Mike Colter) and Kristen (Katja Herbers) deal with the ramifications of their confessions. Kristen’s girls go on the warpath with Leland (Michael Emerson). Andy (Patrick Brammall) signs his death warrant.
What I Like about “The Demon of Death”
As season 2 ended with a cliffhanger, “The Demon of Death” picks back up with an interesting addition. The episode provides a more obvious stopping point that Season 2 should have taken advantage of. It dumbfounds me because this addition makes for a more interesting and darker cliffhanger. The added context would have made the cliffhanger more palatable. However, it’s a nice twist for the episode.
Dr. Boggs (Kurt Fuller) and Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin) make an interesting pair that adds complexity to both. We even explore some of Sister Andrea’s character flaws, best displayed by her interaction with Kristen in the next scene. Few wise sage characters that display flaws, making this addition appreciated.
Father Ignatius’ introduction adds layers of interest for a character who will play a recurring role, tying into Monsignor Korecki directly. The yet-to-be-explored relationship between Father Ignatius and Monsignor Korecki (Boris McGiver) evokes an interest.
While “The Demon of Death” isn’t a haunting episode, but explores the mysteries and terror of death through science to provide an interesting environment for an episode. It introduces a new character that adds to the cast.
Tired Tropes and Triggers
There’s not much to report here that particularly crosses the line and what teeters on the line holds a dark comedic tone.
Perhaps Sister Andrea’s flaw might rub some the wrong way, as it deals with her overwhelming faith. However, it’s a minor point at the moment. Again, I lean on liking some complexity for the wise sage archetype.
What I Dislike about “The Demon of Death”
“The Demon of Death” still plays it safe with its supernatural elements, but that does seem to be Evil’s standard. At this point of the series, it seems a strange restraint. However, the new normal remains functionally paranormal.
While the premiere starts with an interesting procedural plot, it doesn’t direct the season like prior premieres. This episode doesn’t deliver a massive refocus as season 2’s premiere, but that’s because its conclusion doesn’t deliver as focused of a direction. Regardless, “The Demon of Death” is still an episode that slips away despite its premiere status.
Ben (Aasif Mandvi) seems needlessly hostile as they investigate a soul’s potential weight. The study delivers a thorough scientific process, which makes his resistance linger on the “angry atheist” archetype.
The demon shown on screen certainly isn’t the demon of death the title suggests. While the plot revolves around the mystery of death, there is a demon with a more carnal domain. As future episodes dive into their respective demons, it does seem to be an inaccurate title. However, the demon of the episode will get further focus in a different episode.
Final Thoughts
“The Demon of Death” doesn’t stand out as a premiere but provides an interesting procedural episode. As Father Ignatius will become another key character in the series, giving him an entire episode to introduce him is a nice strategy. While it’s not a haunting episode, it still provides a level of camp with interesting characters to pull it off.
(3 / 5)
Released in 2010, Rare Exports asks an important holiday question. One that no one else has dared to ask.
What if Santa was a ten-story-tall monster buried under the ice for centuries?
The story
Rare Exports is the story of a little boy named Pietari. After doing what is frankly too much research for a little boy, he realizes that Santa is not the jolly old elf we all think of. He is, in fact, a monster who eats bad children. And it turns out that Santa was trapped in the ice near Pietari’s little town. All this would be well and good if a Russian mining team weren’t in the process of cutting him out of the ice. So it’s up to Pietari to convince everyone of the dark, horrific truth.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
What worked
Some movies need to make sense. Some don’t. Rare Exports is one of the latter.
Why were the Russians digging in the snow to find Santa? What was the plan there? What happened to Pietari’s mom? And who did they sell the elves to? Do the elves need air or water to live?
We don’t get answers to any of those questions. And frankly, we don’t need them to enjoy Rare Exports.
This is a wild story about a little boy who discovers that Santa is a mythical monster with a bunch of scrawny old men with big white beards to do his evil bidding and eats bad children who haven’t been beaten by their parents enough. What sort of explanation would help this story in any way?
I mean, we could pick apart why it’s suddenly legal to sell people, or at least mythical creatures that look like naked old men, or why this all happened right next to the only little kid who had the exact knowledge needed. But in the end, wouldn’t that be like asking how Santa gets into people’s homes when they don’t have fireplaces? Doesn’t that objective reasoning just piss on the Christmas magic?
What didn’t work
While Rare Exports was fun, there were parts that I did not appreciate. For one thing, there wasn’t a single woman or person of any color in this film. Literally not one. Not an extra, not in the background. This little Finnish town is populated entirely by white men. And yes, it is Finland and there isn’t a hugely diverse population. But it’s also 2010. People move. Also, women exist.
On the subject of seeing too many white men, we also saw too much of the white men. Specifically, we saw far too many old white male actors entirely nude. There was just no reason for this. These men were portraying elves. They didn’t have to be naked. If they were naked, they didn’t have to have, um, yule logs. Maybe elves are like Ken dolls. There were so many options that didn’t include so much old man wang.
Finally, I wish we’d seen Santa Claus. Not to spoil the ending, but he never actually emerges to attack anyone. And that feels like a cop-out. If we’re going to be teased the whole movie with this depiction of monster Santa, we should at least get to see monster Santa.
Though, after what they did with the elves, maybe it’s a blessing we didn’t see him.
In the end, Rare Exports was well worth watching. It was hilarious, creepy and bloody. And while it wasn’t perfect, it was a delightful holiday horror comedy.
(4 / 5)
Released in 2016, Christmas Crime Story is about a disastrous robbery on Christmas Eve, and all the many lives impacted by the selfish decisions of one person.
And then, suddenly, it isn’t. But we’ll get to that part.
The story
Christmas Crime Story is the tale of a Christmas Eve holdup gone wrong. We see the story from several points of view, starting with Chris, the detective first on the scene.
Chris is having a hard Christmas Eve. So, on his lunch break, he visits his mom at her diner. It appears that they have a contentious relationship. But nothing is solved in this quick visit.
Chris goes on to pull over a man speeding. When the man, named David, pulls over, Chris discovers something in the trunk. That something must have been pretty damn incriminating, because rather than open the trunk, David shoots him dead.
We then switch to David’s pov for the night. Then his girlfriend’s pov. Then, the man his girlfriend has been cheating on him with. And on and on we go, until we see how all of these different stories and people come together for a dark, sordid Christmas Eve.
What worked
The first thing I want to say about Christmas Crime Story is that it’s heartwarming. Like, to a fault, which we will be talking about.
The ending is very sweet, in a Christmasy sort of way. Families come together, people are filled with joy, and all is right in the world for almost everyone. Except for Lena, who deserves to have a bad Christmas, everyone gets a happy ending.
That brings me to my next point. The characters, mostly, are all deeply sympathetic. Even when David or James are killing people, you feel bad for them.
You don’t agree with what they’re doing, but you do feel bad.
You have to feel sympathetic for the man whose girlfriend hired a killer to merk him. Or the woman whose daughter has cancer. Or the guy who just can’t find work, even though he’s trying to make good decisions. You want things to work out for them. You want them to be okay. Even when they do terrible things.
Finally, I always love stories told from so many different points of view. It’s always fun to see a story unfold in a nonlinear way, but in a way that makes more and more sense as we get more points of view. It’s a hard thing to pull off, and I think Christmas Crime Story did it very well.
What didn’t work
Unfortunately, all of the sympathetic characters and clever storytelling methods in the world won’t save a story that doesn’t work. And Christmas Crime Story just does not work.
Let’s begin with the ending. The big twist near the end of the movie. I won’t spoil it, but you will for sure know it if you’ve seen the film. Or, if you waste your time watching the film.
As a rule, twists work when they make sense. Not when it feels like the writers threw up their hands and said, “Okay, but what if everything we just did for the last hour and fifteen minutes didn’t happen, and instead…”
This wasn’t clever. It wasn’t fun. It felt like the writers didn’t know how to end their movie and just decided to cheat.
Finally, I mentioned earlier that Christmas Crime Story was heartwarming. And yes, that is nice.
But is it maybe a little too heartwarming?
I mean, we have an adorable angel of a child with cancer. Her parents don’t have enough money for her treatment. We have two poor guys who are in love with a black-hearted woman. And we have a detective so sweet and kind that he makes you rethink ACAB. And, he’s about to get married to his pregnant girlfriend. And they’re naming the baby after his mom. And his name is literally Chris DeJesus. His mom’s name is Maggie DeJesus. I tried to think of a sillier less subtle name to use as a joke, and I literally couldn’t think of one.
They could have at least named him De La Cruz. That would be more subtle, and I still would have complained.
In the end, Christmas Crime Story just missed the mark. It came very close to being a good movie. But it focused too much on how it wanted you to feel, rather than telling a satisfying story that made sense. Much like that third glass of eggnog, it’s fun in the moment and regretful after. If you’re looking for a satisfying Christmas horror, I’d suggest looking elsewhere.
(2 / 5)
-
Book Reviews7 days agoWhat Feasts at Night: An amble through Romanian folklore.
-
Movies n TV4 days ago
Dexter lives in Original Sin, And In the Beginning
-
Movies n TV6 days agoFreak Out, a Rocky Horror Memoir by Jennifer Weigel
-
Book Reviews5 days agoDepression + Apocalype = ?: This Is Not a Test Book Review
