Le rat

A hat is removed from the top of a head which bears a long, dark wound down the center. The camera rushes into this wound to reveal a black rat and its writhing litter of offspring. Slowly a story unfolds without a single word of dialogue. An elderly psychopath hunts young women, kills them, and removes various features from each. Flashbacks tell a parallel story of a boy who lost his mother in a similarly brutal fashion. The psychopath seems to be killing in order to somehow set right this childhood trauma. However, two things will complicate his plan: a troublesome rat which lives in the walls of his home, and a second party of psychopaths which are also stalking young women.

The initial moments of "Le Rat" seem to promise a cinematic experience as wildly unpredictable as "Un Chien Andalou" or the work of David Lynch. Indeed the opening sequence displays imagery which seems heavily influenced by both Lynch's "Eraserhead" and "Lost Highway." However, instead of seeking to evoke a unique mood through imagery or using the surreal in service of expressionism, directors Christophe Ali and Nicolas Bonilauri simply choose a grotesque subject and attempt to elevate it through film tricks, muddling the subject matter to make it appear more complex. They fracture the narrative and contrive a succession of baroque visuals to disguise what is essentially a ridiculous and incoherent story.