Pendant ce temps sur Terre

It's regrettable when a filmmaker's reach exceeds his or her grasp. Such is the case, unfortunately, in writer-director Jérémy Clapin's second feature outing, an ambitious but failed attempt at making a profound statement about the pain of loss and efforts to overcome it when an opportunity presents itself. The film follows the mysterious disappearance of astronaut Franck Martens (Sébastien Pouderoux) while on a seemingly routine space mission, leaving behind his grieving family, most notably his younger sister, Elsa (Megan Northam). She misses her brother terribly but is astounded one evening when she inexplicably appears to be able to communicate with him telepathically. No sooner does she resume contact with him, however, when he disappears again, but this time his voice is supplanted by that of a mysterious alien entity (Dimitri Doré), who says that Franck can be returned home but for a price - the securing of five human hosts for the entity and four colleagues to enable them to come to Earth. Elsa is thus thrust into a moral dilemma: How can she bring about her brother's return while willfully subjecting five innocent individuals to this kind of involuntary abduction? Who should she choose for such a fate? And is this kind of ransom too high a price to pay? These are intriguing questions, a sound basis for a thoughtful morality play. Sadly, however, the execution of this story is clumsily handled. The filmmaker serves up a story that awkwardly seeks to blend science fiction, horror, psychological drama and metaphysics in a single vehicle, one whose narrative plays more like a collection of concept notes than even a first draft of a working script. The result is a disjointed mix of literal, metaphorical and symbolic themes and imagery, including both animation and live action, that lends itself more to inscrutable ambiguity than meaningful clarity. Perhaps this could have been rectified with a longer runtime to yield more extensive and more cohesive development, but its scant 1:23:00 runtime makes the picture feel rushed and somewhat hurriedly patched together, almost as if the creators tried to incorporate whatever elements they could before the production funding ran out. It's a shame that this project has turned out as it has, given that it seems to stem from noble intents. However, as it stands now, this is more muddle than insight, a film that falls far short of its lofty, high-minded potential.

Sometimes, watching a movie makes you speechless.

Sometimes, those worlds live on in your mind instead.

This second feature from Jérémy Clapin pushes every single part of the medium further. From the acting, the directing, the music, the sound, everything in this piece works in perfect harmony to create something that is not only gripping and fascinating, but containing profound philosophical questions - and even more troubling answers.

The ticking time bomb of this film hinges on a central idea: what is the value of a life? A trolley problem of sorts engages you in this disturbing question, made even more powerful when turned inwards by the protagonist: i.e., what is the value of MY life?

It's an alien movie that lives in the space in between thoughts, some galaxy between your emotions that make them bounce around expertly, right up to this ending you can't help but fear is coming.

It's an alien movie about life, about death, about grief, about loss, about what is lost and what will never be found again. People in the room with me where crying all the way through, and I caught myself shaking in my seat, feeling queasy by the midpoint.

I have no more words to express how moved I've been by this. It is truly special. Seeing this at Fantasia film festival, it felt like watching a masterpiece before anyone else. GO WATCH THIS MOVIE. It's the best of the year, and it'll be the best I'll see in a long, long time.

No pun intended - a few things I was struggling with before writing this review ... talking about the ending in a way that may give away certain things ... rating, because of the great ending (at least in my humble opinion) ... should I go at least 8? Well I may change my mind and it really is tough for me to make up my mind I reckon overall.

All that said, the lesser you know about the movie the better it probably works. One thing you should know for sure: it is a slow burn. It may get stuck in your head (sorry for the pun) ... and it is tough to imagine "what would I do?" ... because our main character is in a tough spot to say the least.

So to decide what to do ... and to "obey" because of love ... well you'll understand. What you may not understand ... or at least is not entirely clear I think: the ending. If what we know up to this point is true ... it would point to one thing ... but then again, maybe it wasn't all as it was said it is(?) ... the animation is well done and sparsely used (and that is a good thing) ... a movie for the thinking minds ... no right or wrong here ...

Pendant Ce Temps Sur Terre (or Meanwhile On Earth for the English title) is a French/Belgian movie from writer/director Jérémy Clapin, certainly worth a watch if you like good cinematography, accompanied by a good soundtrack and decent acting. I would have scored it with a seven if it was not for the ending that I found a bit disappointing. For that alone I score it lower, as it was, in my opinion, not satisfying enough. But for the rest it's an interesting story, easy to watch and to understand. A bit of sci-fi fantasy without special effects, just a solid story. Too bad the ending wasn't better.

Astronaut Franck Martens disappeared three years ago while on a space mission. His sister, Elsa, still finds it difficult to accept the fact he simply vanished. A Statue has also been erected in Franck's honour.

Then one day Elsa is contacted by an alien, who assures her Franck is alive and safe, but they require five human bodies in order to let him go, unharmed. She is also allowed to speak to him, to confirm he is still alive. Now, Elsa has three days to find five people to lure to a specific spot in the woods where their bodies will be taken over by alien entities. Elsa decides to be selective, but when time runs out, she becomes desperate.

If you're expecting to see aliens here, you won't. We simply hear an alien voice, giving Elsa instructions. Also, don't expect to find space ships here. This is not your conventional alien movie. Very different indeed. The abrupt ending left me craving for more.

The film has many underlying themes. How do you justify four lives for one? How do you choose? 'Meanwhile on Earth' is so much more than an 'alien' movie, but the lack of aliens might disappoint some viewers.