A quietly haunting portrait of childhood, Philippe Lesage's The Demons is a bold and startling vision of the fragility and vulnerability of a child's psyche, focusing on how youthful exuberance often overshadows or hides the underlying fear and internalized insecurities of youth. Focusing on the the exploits of Felix, a 10-year-old boy, The Demons is a nightmare of festering fear associated with the unknown, establishing early on how large and complex the world can be, and the angst, anger, and fear, it can cause in those individuals who simply have yet built the psychological acumen to grasp it. The Demons wastes little time establishing its main protagonist as a character who is anxiety-ridden and fearful of the world around him, exhibiting how much of his agitation stems, at least initially, from the combustible relationship of his parents. Slowly paced yet assured in approach, The Demons exposes how Felix's parents tumultuous relationship effects Felix's psyche, which leads to him alienating the friends he does have, further creating despondency towards nearly everything around him while simultaneously elevating his own insecurities and overall sense of fear. Insecurities related to everything from sexuality to mortality begin to become bumbling to the surface, with Felix's little bit of resolve and understanding coming from his two older siblings, each of which serve almost as proxy parents, as they attempt to explain the world to the mind of their young, impressionable brother. Learning that the director's background is in documentaries was no surprise after witnessing the superb craft of The Demons, a film that does a wonderful job of relying on visual storytelling to tell its tale of underlying instability. The film as a whole takes on a rather minimalist approach when it comes to dialogue, with the filmmakers trusting mise en scene, composition, and an overall sense of observational photography to embody this bold and alluring story. Perhaps the best comparison for The Demons is the work of Michael Hanake, as the film watches with such implacably, revealing the underlying darkness and potential danger in such subtle, yet intricately detailed ways. I would argue that that music itself may be a little overbearing at times, but its subversive design, while blunt, does take on an almost Lynchian quality throughout the films' running time, elevating the overall atmosphere of a film that otherwise is very understated in its storytelling technique. Perspective is a major aspect of why The Demons thrives in this regard, as Philippe Lesage beautifully blends Felix's fevered imagination with the harsh realities which he is forced to inhabit, exhibiting the toll which fear and insecurities can take on an impressionable mind. While Felix's insecurities and fears are the driving force of the story, the back-half of the film changes its focus to swimming instructor Ben, an older character, who seems to be struggling himself psychologically. While up to this point, the evil and darkness in Felix's story simply lurked in the background, festering underneath the surface, but it's with Ben that The Demon's reveals true horror and shock, though one would argue it does so in a way that is completely void of judgement. Without going into details, lets just say that Ben is a character whose internal insecurities have led him down a road that ends in explosive violence and gut-churning horror. Outside of the underlying insecurities of each character, the thematic link between Felix and Ben's stories feels a bit opaque at first, and while it certainly is up to interpretation, I'd argue that Ben's character is used as a form of foreshadowing, a symbolic representation of the dangers facing Felix if he doesn't find more guidance from those around him, mainly his parents. Its simplistic to call The Demons' a cautionary tale about the dangers of ineffective parenting, but at the same time it's hard to deny the thematic connection between the fragility of a childhood's psychology and the fears of the vast, complex world around them, withFelix's overall lack of guidance, outside of his siblings. Oscillating between tenderness, exuberance, horror, and brooding pathos, Philippe Lesage's The Demons is a film that very much embraces the "go big or go home approach", delivering a bold, superbly well-crafted study of childhood psychology, and the deep, piercing effect insecurity can have on one's overall nature.
2 Comments
Michael Aronson
8/11/2016 09:05:50 am
I want to see this bad
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Eric
8/11/2016 09:25:42 am
It's definitely one of my favorite narrative films i've seen this year..
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