The lucky one
In 2021, Parasomnia Productions launched a call for projects French genre films that can be made for just 1 million euros. After no less than 2,600 projects received, 4 films have now been confirmed, and 37: The Shadow and the Prey is the first of them to see the light of day under the aegis of the distributor Sony. If these details are necessary, it is to recall the importance of the structures which aim to promote the emergence of genre cinema in France, but also because it is difficult not to watch 37 through the prism of its production model.
Because, yes, small ways make themselves feltwhether in the modesty of the settings, the somewhat scant quantity of characters, an image that sometimes sounds a little web and some dialogues that would have deserved a little rewriting or a few additional takes. When the film begins, with a slightly sluggish pace and a slightly overly written exchange between the two protagonists (Vincent, a depressed truck driver, and 37, a mysterious hitchhiker may be responsible for the death of another driver having hitched a ride), the spectator fears that it will start to sting quickly.
And yet, the film keeps catching up and improving from scene to sceneto the point of completely captivating his audience. It must be said that the cat and mouse game set up is extremely effective, particularly because it adds a constant reversal of the issues and the balance of power between the characters.
Carve the road
Who is the real threat? Is redemption possible? By building your scenario arounda multitude of moral questions whose clarity and efficiency are worthy of Baccalaureate philosophy subjects, the film tugs and titillates its spectator more than he expected. To the point of making him accept some elements that are almost too crude, the thickness of which risks, especially at the end, destroying the whole, but which in fact become the icing on the cake of a well-conducted affair. And that’s the real thing, right?
Because if we have been able to criticize quite a few French genre films for being too timid in their codes, we must recognize that, in 37, this clever balance between B series thriller and social drama does not give the frustrating impression of being the result of compulsion or convenience. With inventiveness, use of colors, mirrors, insidious camera movements, the director little by little transforms the monotonous and anti-charismatic landscape of French highways into a place of confinement and tensionto make it the backdrop for an engaged statement deeply linked to the road itself.
37 will not revolutionize the genre or disrupt anyone's life (unless…), however, its effect of a little punch in the stomach will not leave those who see it indifferent. Ditto for the performances of Guillaume Pottier and Melodie Simina, whose anonymity serves the characters here, but whom it would be good to continue to see on the screens. Special mention, in passing, for Agnès Sourdillon who plays a secondary but crucial character, and whose charisma and accuracy give the necessary credibility to the moral dilemmas posed by the film.
