Fantasia 2023 review: ‘VINCENT MUST DIE’ is darkly funny and genuinely rattling.

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VINCENT MUST DIE

Vincent suddenly finds people violently attacking him. An average graphic designer looking for love, Vincent notices a pattern in the behavior’s trigger and discovers he is not alone. Director Stéphan Castang unravels a mystery for Fantasia 2023 audiences in the entirely unpredictable film VINCENT MUST DIE.

As the violence heightens, our leading man turns to isolation for survival. When a glitch in the behavior has him come face to face with a local waitress, his yearning for human connection looks hopeful. But nothing in VINCENT MUST DIE comes easily.

Vimala Pons gives Margaux a badass edge. Her chemistry with Karim Leklou is fierce. There is an ease that works every second they share the screen. Leklou brings desperate humanity to Vincent. Carrying the film on his shoulders, he is undeniably compelling.

This film is a fresh and thoroughly disturbing take on apocalyptic scenarios. I left fingernail impressions on my palms while rooting for Vincent to be happy and safe. Writer Mathieu Naert never allows the audience to get comfortable. The tonal shifts break up the madness as the twists keep coming. While the film has elements of Rob Jabbaz‘s The Sadness, VINCENT MUST DIE is much less diabolically gory, stringently more chilling, darkly funny commentary on human connection. It is a rattling film.


Fantasia International Film Festival 2021 review: ‘THE SADNESS’ is ultra-violent, bloody mayhem.

Perhaps more aptly named The Madness, The Sadness is a tongue-in-cheek take on the insanity that the pandemic has reigned upon the globe. Rather than a variant that makes you sicker more quickly, this is a rage variant. The infected want to inflict as much pain as possible. The sexual violence is particularly egregious and repetitive… and that’s the point. If you are easily offended, this is not a film for your eyeballs. The simple premise of two lovers attempting to reunite among the chaos plays like a dream. Unlike similar films, say 28 Weeks, The Sadness is not a zombie movie. The infected are fully cognoscente of their behavior. It’s a psychotic switch that gets flipped, and what ensues is mind-blowing.

Performances are filled with greatness. What might only be a highlighted extra role in any other genre film turn into a slew of memorable ones. It’s that well written and performed. Seeped in genuine incel energy, social commentary, and over-the-top gore and violence create a shocking watch. The amount of movie blood that must have been involved in this production is unfathomable. I’ve watched a lot of horror, (like, a lot a lot) and The Sadness is not fucking around. One hour in, there is a moment so offensive, even I gagged. Fantasia International Film Festival 2021 audiences were treated to one of the most insanely disturbing films in the festival’s 25-year run. If you can watch and hold in your lunch, bravo. Director Rob Jabbaz, much respect to you, sir.