Premiere:
Country of origin:
France
Director: Jean-Pierre Mocky
Writer:
Jean-Claude Romer, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Patrick Granier, Scott Baker, Suzy Baker
Production Companies: Films A2, M. Films
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Surreal Fantasy
Runtime:
1h 28min
Starring: Marie-José Nat, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Nino Ferrer
If you mix Roy Andersson’s minimalistic style with Dario Argento’s stylistic horror language, you get something close to this one.
This story takes place in a small French mountain town called Litan during a strange local event known as Litan Day. From the very first moments, the film refuses to settle into a traditional narrative rhythm. Instead, it presents fragments that feel like a trailer structure, as if we are seeing glimpses of events that are already in motion or not yet fully formed.
The story then follows Nora (Marie-José Nat), who awakens from a dream in this town and moves through an environment where instructions, encounters and destinations never fully stabilize into clear meaning. People she meets often behave in ways that feel slightly off, not in an overtly surreal way at first, but in a subtle emotional disconnection that slowly builds unease. Conversations feel functional rather than natural and reactions do not always match the intensity of the situations unfolding around them.
The setting itself plays a major role in this effect. The mountain
landscape, heavy stone architecture and fog filled open spaces give
the town a mythological quality. There is a growing sense that the
environment is part of the narrative mechanism, where caves,
factories, hospitals and event sites feels connected.
It is recorded in Saint-Victor-sur-Loire in France, a small historic area near Saint-Étienne shaped by steep rock formations and reservoir landscapes. That real geography feeds directly into the atmosphere, giving the place a grounded sense of terrain that still feels detached from normal everyday orientation. From the very beginning, the massive surrounding rock formations and narrow streets give the entire setting a Lovecraftian feeling of isolation and something ancient pressing in from the edges.
What makes the film especially striking is how it layers different cinematic languages on top of each other. There is a strong European art film foundation, where space, silence and observation carry much of the weight. At the same time, it repeatedly interrupts this calm surface with bursts of horror energy that feel more aligned with genre cinema, especially Italian giallo traditions. The score shifts between ritualistic tension, classic suspense cues and sudden sharp horror stings, creating the sense that multiple film traditions are colliding inside the same narrative space.
There is a clear sense of fragmented storytelling, instead of strict cause and effect, events feel like symbolic pieces that gain weight through recognition. It shares some structural similarity with Alejandro Jodorowsky’s surreal storytelling, although this film is more grounded in connected scenes and clearer spatial continuity. There is also a strong echo of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), where meaning almost forms before dissolving again, leaving behind only traces rather than answers.
At the same time, the film feels close to how the games Limbo (2010) and Little Nightmares (2017) construct their worlds. You are not guided through explanation, you are moved through space and understanding comes from observing the environment itself. Background details, repetition and atmosphere become the primary way of reading what is happening, while the story continues forward without pausing to clarify itself.
The film rarely gives space to process information before introducing the next fragment. Each moment arrives while earlier ones are still unresolved. Because of this, understanding never fully stabilizes, it constantly shifts just out of reach while the narrative keeps moving forward.
It can feel overwhelming at times, with so much happening in such a short span of time, but overall it is a very unique and refreshing experience. I found myself constantly trying to make sense of what was happening, but at a certain point I just let go of that and accepted the film for what it is, rather than trying to fully decode it. Even with all the confusion, it was a memorable watch and worth the experience.
I give it a solid 7/10.
This was an interesting trailer, it is kinda just the start of the movie , Noras dream, in the movie it played out as a trailer so make sense to have it as a trailer then.
This next trailer was a bit strange, it show a scene at the start that was not in the movie.
IMDB
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163716/
Article written by: Sonny Mikszath
