The Last Journey: when science fiction becomes embedded in French cinema

After a short film on the same story, Romain Quirot signs his first feature film with The Last Journey. Notably worn by Hugo Becker, Paul Hamy and Jean Reno, the film tells how a mysterious red moon is heading dangerously towards Earth. The only one who can stop this unprecedented cataclysm is astronaut Paul W.R. But the latter decides to flee, and leave humanity alone to face its destiny. A French science fiction film, The Last Journey is an unprecedented proposition.

The Last Journey : a unique proposal in the landscape of French cinema

French science fiction films are extremely rare in the cinematographic landscape. Romain Quirot thus offers an unprecedented proposal, and a singular work in French cinema. A low-budget film, carried by a head unknown to the general public, it is an ambitious proposal, which will delight fans of science fiction and personal cinema. The Last Journey offers an inspired narrative that opts for a dystopian future as American cinema likes to portray it. Somewhere between Blade Runner and Mad Max, Romain Quirot's feature film offers Dantesque visions of a possible future. The one where natural resources have been exhausted, where technology dominates without bringing any comfort to the population. A post-apocalyptic western approach that obviously recalls George Miller's iconic license. A grimy science fiction that takes up the great themes established by Ridley Scott in his immense classic of the genre. The Last Journey is also very reminiscent of Neill Blomkamp's cinema and his dystopian odysseys omnipresent in his career (District 9, Elysium and Chappie). Especially in the design of government agents. Obviously, it does not reach the mastery of the masters across the Atlantic. It is not intended to equal them. Romain Quirot opts for a deliberately very simple approach to the subject. The scenario of The Last Journey is finally quite agreed, and takes up the great clichés of the genre without necessarily innovating them. Thus, Romain Quirot does not offer huge surprises but masters his subject. And it's already not bad in a French cinema that is struggling to renew itself.

Some small clumsiness but a lot of personality

It feels that The Last Journey is Romain Quirot's first feature film. The filmmaker is still affected by some clumsiness, especially in the management of his rhythm. Even if the film lasts only 1h30, some lengths come to interfere in the plot. Similarly, the staging of the young director remains very academic, even academic. His dialogues also do not offer great upheavals. The Last Journey sometimes lacks ambition, and a subject like this perhaps deserved further development. As if Romain Quirot was still a little shy. The lack of budget also recalls a certain resemblance to a Netflix production, which does not always refine the deepening of its concepts and special effects. But this sometimes amateur side also gives all its flavor to The Last Journey. We can only underline the spontaneity of its author, who had the conviction and the desire to offer the spectators a film unpublished in French cinema. A radical science fiction proposal, which is akin to a UFO in our seventh art so calibrated. Because of its stakes, its aesthetics and its universe, The Last Journey necessarily stands out, and offers something else to see. https://youtu.be/qr43wqVj7V8