Out of This World (2020)
Dir – Marc Fouchard
Starring – Kevin Mischel, Aurelier Poirier
From the outset there is something very unsettling about Marc Fouchard’s Out Of This World. Opening with Leo (Kevin Mischel) parked in his car . Here he composes electronic synth tracks , drives as an Uber(type) taxi, has all his belongings in his boot so it seems that Leo lives , earns and creates in his vehicle but also he could be doing something far more sinister in it too!
One of his fares is a young deaf dancer Amelie (Aurelier Poirier) and when he plays his music through the car stereo he sees Amelie not hear the music as such but feel it , with her tapping to the rhythm and so begins a tentative relationship . Unfortunately Leo suffers from past traumas , which are alluded to but nothing deeper, and he controls his mental illness by stabbing women to death and dumping their bodies in water. However it often appears that some of this may be fantasy and some real but we are never really shown and are left to make our own conclusions.
The blossoming relationship between Leo and Amelie is remarkable , the first dance scene where Leo watches Amelie dancing is just beautiful . Amelie is unaware of Leo’s stare and is completely lost in her craft and Leo is just struck with the beauty of her dance. It gives the viewer the feeling that Leo’s attraction to Amelie is based on her deafness as we see throughout that communication is not Leo’s strong point and why he communicates through his music.
Unfortunately as the relationship starts to develop so does Leo’s rage and it leads to a spiralling of his murderous instincts which lead to the incredible buildup and ending.
However brutal (and my god there are some brutal moments here) Leo is there is also a feeling of incredible sadness as to what made him become this way? He is a clearly talented composer , a good looking fella yet his upbringing caused him to become a monster. Nature vs Nurture? Leo’s childhood is only very lightly covered in two small scenes , one with Amelie and another with a family in a local park .
Out Of This World is brutal, nihilistic, dripping with sadness and utterly compelling. BUT it will not be for everyone , it is slow and has limited dialogue for large amounts of the film. It is not a horror film or a serial killer film , it’s a character study of two lost souls struggling to live and finding their own unique ways to cope with life.
4/5
Out Of This World is available to rent or own on digital HD from Bulldog Film Distribution on 5 December 2022
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