Suggest sassy films coming out “Belgian classicism that we are used to seeing” (dixit Tanguy Dekeyser, manager at RTBF), this is one of the objectives of a new axis launched by the public channel. Who, after boosting Belgian series around ten years ago, would want to do the same with feature films, then.
A perspective that came at the right time for a duo formed by a director (Samuel Tilman) and the singer Saule (Baptiste Lalieu here), motivated by the conception of an unusual format in the landscape: a slasher. Namely a type of horror film popular especially in Anglo-Saxon cinema, which involves – generally – a group of young people.
And this is the case here, since without revealing too much, the story evokes the fate of four of them, kidnapped and waking up groggy on an uninhabited island. Not knowing each other, their only thing in common is a… phone, without directory or applications. Very quickly, a masked individual sends them a video message: if they guess the reason for their presence on this island, they can be released. Until this eventuality, they will be entitled to a brief connection time per day, to communicate with the outside world, with the exception of their loved ones and the police. “Everything happens in 48 hours, explain the creators. Our idea was to address smartphone and Internet addiction, but in a roundabout way and without being moralistic. We also found there was something universal about wondering what we would all do if we had limited online time.”
Well thought out, the casting brings together four actors seen in Belgian series: Karim Barras (The truce), Camille Sansterre (Attraction), Laura Sépul (Attraction, Barracks) and Félix Vannoorenberghe (Coyotes). “They all play characters completely dependent on their phones. For each role, we tested four or five actors that we liked, but the selection was made taking into account group balance. It’s almost behind closed doors with long sequences, shot with surveillance cameras everywhere. Our heroes therefore did not always know when they were being filmed, which destabilized them.”
Tense and playful, short (1 hour 12) and necessarily atypical since it is Belgian in tone, this Cluedo in any case has assets to attract attention, particularly among young people.
Airplane mode
Wednesday January 15 Tipik 8:05 p.m. ★★★✩
