UltravoKal is possibly the most obscure film I have ever seen. Part of why this movie may be worth your time is simply because there is basically nobody talking about it. I thought I would have found at least one review here on IMDB, but no. Not even a mention of it. Including myself, only 10 people have even bothered to give it any rating at all. I essentially stumbled upon it through blind chance, as I was browsing through Tubi one night and saw the poster for it. I just don't understand it; this seems to have fallen into quite a deep pit of obscurity, not even being named as a cult classic or any form of recognizable name. There isn't a Wikipedia page for it, there is barely any press coverage surrounding it, and the most in depth information I could find was a Facebook page that has been at least marginally active over the last year, which boggles my mind; they don't even have over 500 followers.
With all that being said, this is a review of the movie itself, and not a history lesson on the black hole that is this film's existence. So without further delay, here's my final verdict on the movie:
It is a barely mediocre thriller film. Since this is definitely an indie film, they seem to have cut corners when possible to avoid anything extremely costly. Some of this, like limiting the principle cast to only 3 people, works in spades in regards to their storytelling capabilities. Other parts, like making it a slow burn that includes some painfully long takes where absolutely nothing of importance is happening, really bog the movie down and make it feel extremely long for a simple hour and a half long film. There's also not a lot of spoken dialogue, making the moments where nothing is happening feel unbearable, since it's trying to visually tell you the story, but you are simply just sitting there waiting for the story to happen rather than being told anything.
The biggest detractor of the movie is that among the three main cast members, two of them aren't very good. The main male lead plays an incredibly manipulative young deserter, who essentially rapes the main female lead at least once, and acts hostile towards her the rest of the time. The female lead is only slightly better, being portrayed as a helpless individual who is too affected by her upbringing to stand up for herself. It also doesn't help that every time the two of them speak, they simply spit out generic lines that sometimes don't even fit into the context of the scene. This could be due to translating issues, but I'm more willing to bet that it's due to just a lack of quality in writing over anything.
While I will say these factors are quite bad and contribute to the film feeling soulless and unenjoyable, there are two things that act as a saving grace for the movie. One of them is the soundtrack/sound design. The sounds of the music make it almost feel like the movie is breathing or running when it needs to, giving the tension some depth. Because this is a French film, I tried to translate the title into English. "Ultravokal" simply translated into "Ultravocal", which could just say "ultra vocal". I'd actually call that very accurate, as when they try to tell the story visually, the thing that makes it interesting is the sounds and the music playing while they tell it.
The other saving grace is the main villain of the film, Institoris. In terms of what I was expecting, the amount of attachment I felt for Institoris wasn't really there until I watched the film. He is truly a well crafted idea for a character. The actor that plays him does a phenomenal job of acting like a slow but steady threat that constantly follows the main characters and will eventually wreak havoc once he reaches them. He also has some of the best-written dialogue in the film. Granted, that's in comparison to some of the atrocious writing given to the main character particularly, but in comparison, it's actually not that bad. It's generic, but I could hear the actor trying his hardest to make it work, and he made it serviceable. His costume design was also excellent. I really enjoyed this different take on a hitman, seeming like an old geezer that seemed to give off a veteran look. He reminds me a bit of Peter Lorre, a well-known villainous character actor. They look quite similar, yet Institoris has a different style, seeming to take his time. His scenes are also the more interesting to watch due to the color scheme, the way he preforms on the set, and the sounds and music that plays. In a film that's quite mediocre for what it is, I'll admit, they have quite an engaging villain for what it's worth.
Part of the reason I gave this movie such a generous rating was because of the sounds and the performance of Institoris, but to those reading this review, let me just say that I am basically one of the few people to go out of my way and actually review this movie on the internet. There was only one other review I could find, and it was on Letterboxd. This film is not something that deserves to be watched multiple times, or garner some form of cult following, but I'd be hard pressed to say that it deserves to be lost in obscurity forever. I think it deserves at least some recognition for what it does accomplish, even if it's not a whole lot of good things.
