31 Days of Halloween: Les Affamés

2017, Robin Aubert (Tuktuq) -- Netflix

See below's commentary on taking the usual and doing something fresh with it. Nothing can be more the usual than a zombie movie. It's a great challenge to take such an overworked genre and do something that could satisfy both zombie AND general horror movie fans. I am glad to see that most of the audiences enjoyed it, though admittedly it would be considered a slow challenge for some.

The other thing that makes this movie really stand out is that it is from Quebec. I really wish I had more exposure to the Quebec film industry, but unfortunately only rare entries actually leak out. I have always had a feeling that the industry there is so strong, Hollywood skilled strong, that it doesn't need the rest of the world. But I believe the rest of Canada is missing out. The few I have seen are just so distinctly Quebec, very much a product of their environment, not like the generic Toronto or Vancouver movies that are often trying hard to be milquetoast, appealing to anyone from anywhere, washing out the distinct natures of the regions.

In rural Quebec, the zombie apocalypse is in deep throes. Two men laugh it up, telling cheesy jokes as they burn bodies. They are armed and cautious but bleeding off tension with the terrible juvenile humour. On their return they see some zombies they recognize, or are they just lost neighbours? Investigation requires caution and silence, but alas, these are fast zombies, more the infected attackers of sub-genres, and one of the men goes down quickly. The other man moves on. A chilling little bit, in that the man who dies sees a small child in a tree, before he goes down. He does not tell the other man. What becomes of the child is unknown.

The story is thin, a moving "road story" that follows Bonin, the survivor above, as he connects with and loses other survivors. I am not sure they really have a destination, but are just moving away from the ravenous hordes that attracted to sound and movement. Along the way they begin to see something strange, weird towers built by the hordes, towers of random ephemera like electronics or chairs. There is no rhyme or reason, just ... a strangeness. It reminded me of the programmed zombies from Stephen King's Cell.

Viewers have accused the movie of having no story, but I actually really enjoyed that aspect of it. It ends up being more about the characters, the people and just survivors. One of my many many novel sketches involves telling a zombie story as the bite passes from person to person, carrying the story forward as one person changes and we focus on the next person. At the end of this movie little is explained, but I found myself very satisfied.