Pandemonium

"Pandamonium" is a bold entry into the genre of films inspired by Dante's "Divine Comedy." the film ambitiously navigates the realms of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, much like its literary predecessor.

The narrative follows protagonist Nathan (Hugo Dillian), an ordinary man thrust into a horrifying journey through the afterlife after a tragic accident.

Nathan encounters fellow victims of the accident and their judgements. The film's strongest points lie in its ability to visualize these otherworldly realms with a creative flair from the production team. The depiction of Hell, with its haunting landscapes and tormented souls, is particularly striking, evoking both fear and fascination.

However, "Pandamonium" is not without its flaws. The film's pacing, for one, suffers significantly due to two major story breaks that delve into backstories. These segments, while informative and very thought provoking, disrupt the flow of the main narrative and detract from the film's momentum.

Both breaks explore the backstory of two victims now in the first circle of hell. While both back stories are heartbreaking and thought provoking, making you wonder if these people deserve their eternal punishment, the decision to insert these backstories within the central plotline might have been intended to enrich the characters, but instead, it comes across as jarring due to the length of the stories. A more seamless integration or a different narrative structure could have preserved the film's pacing and maintained my engagement. Although both back stories were fantastically shot and acted especially the second of the two.

Despite these interruptions, "Pandamonium" manages to maintain a decent level of intrigue and entertainment. The screenplay, skillfully weaves elements of moral questioning and if redemption is possible throughout the narrative. The dialogues, are thoughtfully written, often reflecting the philosophical undertones of the source material. The film raises pertinent questions about the nature of sin, forgiveness, and the possibility of redemption, making it a contemplative experience for the audience.

The performances are another highlight of the film. Delivers a compelling portrayal of Nathan, capturing the character's confusion and fear. Athe portrayal of the mother and daughter from the second backstory was extremely compelling and upsetting.

In conclusion, "Pandamonium" stands as a decent contender in the genre of films inspired by "The Divine Comedy." While the story breaks for backstory disrupt the pacing and could have been better integrated, the film's overall execution remains solid. It offers a thoughtful and visually engaging interpretation of Dante's classic themes. For fans of philosophical fantasy, "Pandamonium" is worth a watch, even if it occasionally stumbles along its ambitious path.

No pun intended - the movie has quite the bleak outlook on (most) things. And it is quite tough on a lot of things too. You may not agree with what the movie is trying to tell you. Especially because it sort of feels like it starts off slow and fun in a way ... but really does take quite a few twists and turns. It does not care of what you expect and if you are sensitive ... things do happen (as they tend to do in life, no fair or whatever).

Our main character goes on a journey ... and it seems to end one way or another ... but does it really. And does it in the end? The movie does not take the easy way out, that is for sure. It did remind me a bit of the Silent Hill movie (20 years old or something now?) ... not the story, but the mood this creates. And the visuals to a degree .. you have to suspend your disbelief ... and not be too sensitive as I already stated above ... then you might find quite a few interesting things here ... not judging morally one way or the other ... or at least you should try not to.

Heaven and hell truly exist. You see a glimpse of the later one while watching this movie. And it's definitely the place where the writer/director will end up... I rarely write reviews, but when having watched an extraordinary movies I make an exception every now and then. This is is such a time and the reason is clearly not positive. The movie earns its one star because of an idea of the afterlife it tries to present. But that's it. The resulting plot lacks a lot of logic (which the director tries to explain at first, but then gets weirder with every additional episode every passing minute). The missing visual effects (one CGI - I don't count the static doors in the landscape as such - and three latex face masks are not enough) and slow-acting actors with long-winding dialogues (and not describing anything despite it) give the movie the rest.

Maybe: if you watch it nevertheless, you could place this lost half and a hour of lifetime on your judgement day as good deed for self-abandonment...

Needless to say that I had never actually heard about this 2023 horror movie titled "Pandemonium" prior to stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2024. In fact, I didn't even know that it was a French movie that I sat down to watch when I opted to sit down and watch it, on account of it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen.

So in a sense, writer and director Quarxx had every opportunity to entertain and impress me here. However, that was a wasted opportunity, because "Pandemonium" was a dumpster fire of a movie. I didn't know that I was in for a horror anthology here, and had I known that this was an anthology I wouldn't have wasted 95 minutes on watching it.

The movie was off to a great start with the scene with Nathan (played by Hugo Dillon) and Daniel (played by Arben Bajraktaraj) with the crash and the choices of Heaven or Hell. But then the movie quickly went downhill. But give it a watch, perhaps you might find the segments and stories interesting. I just happened to not find the subsequent segments interesting, after the first one.

It should be said, though, that the acting performances in "Pandemonium" were good. I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, however. But that is actually something I do appreciate and enjoy when I sit down to watch a movie. Just a shame that this was a dumpster fire of a horror anthology.

Visually then "Pandemonium" was okay. There were a minimal of special effects throughout the 95 minutes that the movie ran for. But the effects were adequate for what they were and served the movie well enough.

"Pandemonium" didn't impress me, much less actually entertained me. And it is not a movie that will ever grace my screen a second time.

My rating of writer and director Quarxx's 2023 horror movie "Pandemonium" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

I have to give the film credit for having a unique base setting to an anthology-based horror film.

There isn't much of a review here, since the film is flat and immensely mundane. It isn't terrible.

The CGI is kind of cheesy in the beginning, but nevertheless the demons and the films description of Hell are very "awesome" (for lack of better terminology).

Some of the stories are original, but are lacking in story depth, and they come off as mundane. I would categorize this film to be put into the supernatural horror genre, but that is just my opinion.

The stories themselves are not "scary" or "creepy/dark" as some may say but are intriguing in their own sort of way. On the contrary, the stories are quite boring.

I believe that the best aesthetic portions of the film are in the beginning and in "Hell." Otherwise, the film is rather mediocre.

I think it would be worth a one-time watch.

5/10.