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Director Édouard Salier tells the story of twin brothers training to become stellar explorers. But whether we should accept that space is reserved for humanity’s best remains unclear

A strain of science fiction has emerged lately, especially in Europe and more specifically France, that’s very sparing with visual effects and more dependent on tricks involving makeup and sets, sprinkled with a bit of body horror, à la David Cronenberg. French director Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom, which debuted in Cannes and played at the London film festival but has yet to open in the UK, is very much in this style, with genetically mutated people turning into animal-human hybrids – lizards, birds, all manner of mammals – and leaving the civilised world behind.

Tropic, a film directed by Édouard Salier, who has a horror feature, Cabeza Madre, under his belt, and lots of shorts and music videos – is in a similar vein.

"It's clear to everyone that their closeness is holding him back." Dark Star Pics has revealed the official US trailer for an indie sci-fi creation called Tropic, also known as Tropique, originally from France. (It also goes under the title Things Behind the Stars.) This first premiered at both Fantastic Fest 2022 and also at the Sitges Film Festival more then a year ago, but is only now getting released in theaters in 2023. It already opened in France a few months ago, and arrives in the US (in theaters then on VOD later) in December. As twin brothers and best friends Lázaro and Tristán train together for the Astronaut Academy tests, they find themselves facing a greater challenge. When disaster strikes, the pair must find their place in a world where there is no room for monsters. A mysterious meteor from space crashes down, completely deforming one of the brothers, turning...

Clockwise from upper left: Barbie (Warner Bros.), Easy A (Sony), The Lego Movie (Warner Bros.), Tropic Thunder (Paramount), Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (DreamWorks), Bridesmaids (Universal)Graphic: The A.V. Club

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Exclusive: Pulsar Content and XYZ Films have partnered to handle sales on the Fantastic Fest and Sitges sci-fi drama Tropic, directed by Edouard Salier who also co-wrote with Mauricio Carrasco.

The film follows Lázaro and Tristán (19), twin brothers and best friends, who are training together for the Astronaut Academy entrance tests. One day, Tristán is contaminated with some mysterious residue which makes him monstrous physically and weakened mentally. This disaster forces Lázaro to let go of how he remembers his brother and learn to love him as he is now, in a world where there is no room for monsters.

The French-language feature stars Pablo Cobo, Louis Peres, Marta Nieto, and Marvin Dubart, and was produced by Rezo Productions, Ninon Chapuis, and Jean-Michel Rey. Above is a first-look clip.

The pic will world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 23 at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar and will screen at Sitges...