Movie of the Week: “Alone”
The theme of being alone in the world has already been much explored in the cinema, but it is always good to see someone do it creatively, as is the case of the Franco-Belgian film “Alone” (“Seuls”, FRA / BEL, 2017) in a strange blend of sci-fi, suspense, and supernatural.The film was directed by David Moreau, who was also co-author of the screenplay, along with Guillaume Moulin.
Five French teenagers wake up one day and discover they are alone. Not only in their homes, but in the city they find no one. Even for mutual protection, they decide to stay together.
The boys are Leila (Sofia Lesaffre), Dodji (Stéphane Bak), Terry (Jean-Stan Du Pac), Camille (Kim Lockhart) and Yvan (Paul Scarfoglio). The first doubt that arises among them is: where are all people? And right away, why were they there?
Other strange things begin to happen, like a mysterious smothering fog, which continually advances through the city. And worse, they discover that there is someone else in the city, with malicious intentions, and who intends to kill them.
The film grows in a suspenseful mood, where all clues point to an amusement park that seems to be the key to everything that has happened to them.
The story that inspired the film was a comic book written by Fabien Vehlmann and drawn by Bruno Gazzotti, whose first volume was published in 2006, and continued through last year, with a new volume being released each year.
In the original story, the characters are much younger, with 5, 8, 9, 10 and 12 years, and along the sequences they find groups of rival children, who also remain alone in that strange world.
In the film, everyone is older, and some personal characteristics have been changed, resulting in an emotional involvement between two of them. The big change over comics was the supernatural approach, which tries to explain what happened to them.
“Alone” is very well done, with few script problems, good acting of the young actors, and a large number of deserted locations, which leads one to imagine the immense production work to film a great avenue without any car or person.
It is worth remembering that this is a French film, without great explanations and with an open end, that may displease those who are accustomed to American productions. Still, it’s an intriguing and interesting movie, and it can spark great bar table discussions. Try it out!
Original Title: “Seuls”