Vincent doit mourir

Altough flawed, this movie is pretty good. The concept is simple, when the main character makes eye contact with someone, that someone will get violent and try to kill Vincent. A simple idea, with a simple solution not explored in the movie: what if Vincent had sunglasses, or a mask. Without making spoilers, let me tell you that during the movie the concept of not seeing the eyes with a blindfold, so why won't he try sunglasses? Also, I do not understand how difficult is it to not look someone in the eyes, just focus on the other person eyebrows.

But yeah, despite these things I still enjoyed this very much.

This is a very unlikely, unpredictable, unusual film which I am talking about. I am very puzzled, actually. This plot about a man who suddenly becomes the target of the other people wrath, anger, violence, makes me think of a zombie film. A social fantasy - not horror though - story, exploring a very modern problem: violence in the today's world, where people become more and more agressive, brutal, most of the time for meaningless reasons.... You wonder where this plot will lead to all long this nearly two hours feature. Rather long length for a first film. It is a zombie plot but without zombies...Watch it and you'll understand. Unsatisfactory ending. Could have been better.

This 2023 dark comedy Vincent Must Die (Vincent doit mourir) directed by Stéphan Castang and written by Mathieu Naert. The lead actors are Karim Leklou as Vincent and Vimala Pons as Margaux. It follows the early tradition of film looking at berserker rage and body horror like George Romero's The Crazies (1973) and David Cronenverg's Rabid (1977).

This societal rage theme was been explored in the recent like Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002) and The Sadness (2021). Castang take on it here begins as a black comedy, as it's strength in storytelling. As the film goes on through its Act II and III it becomes darker, more apocalyptic story.

The premise is simple, Vincent (Leklou) start to be attack for no apparent reason, just due to their staring at him. As the story he starts to discover this unknown social phenomenon that has an underground community. The leads are very good performance but like with recent film productions it been criticized for using AI to do the English dubbing to it original French language.

Vincent Must Die starts from a bizarrely compelling premise: an ordinary man suddenly finds himself being violently attacked by random strangers without explanation. The film builds on this mystery with steady tension and a strong sense of unease, managing to keep the viewer engaged. A romantic subplot is introduced to give emotional weight to the protagonist's journey. While somewhat predictable, it doesn't feel out of place and adds depth to the character arc.

The film's biggest flaw lies in its refusal to offer any explanation - not even a hint - about the cause of the phenomenon. Given the strangeness of the premise, a little more clarity or thematic suggestion could have elevated the experience. Nonetheless, the film stands out for its originality, strong performances, and a consistent tone. It might not be the most memorable of its kind, but it certainly offers something different and intriguing.

No pun intended - so the director seems to think that it is a miracle we are not at each others throats all the time - I would not like to have him working as a psychiatrist .. that's for sure. But maybe he is on to something. Maybe conflict is within us ... can we evolve past it one day? Who knows? Evolution usually takes time.

That all said, the movie is quite obviously is showing an ugly side in society and humans overall. Where victims get blamed ... and have to endure consequences instead of the other way around. It starts more on the comedy side .. but gets quite serious towards the end. Still a lot of (dark) jokes on the way to that ... well "conclusion".

A lot of genres mixed up in this one - you'll either like that or don't ... hopefully you do.