Mathieu Turi is a young director (interview here).After several short films and several years working as assistants on many productions (big and small) here he is with his first feature film Hostile. While French genre cinema seems to be experiencing a revival, what does this new attempt give? Focus.
It all starts with the desert. A young woman is alone, and seeks to find something to support her tribe. While she is the victim of a car accident and finds herself alone in the night, she will recall her memories before the apocalypse…
Hostile is a special film. It first mixes the post-apo/horror as well as a part before the apocalypse closer to the romantic drama. So we're going to deal with this on a case-by-case basis, looking at the apocalyptic part, and then the romantic part. It is important to know that both parts are not presented by chance and have meaning.
The post-apo part will focus on questions and themes that can concern anyone, i.e. how to survive a "Hostile" situation. A typical question of the western, which has migrated to science fiction and, therefore, post-apo. This origin of the western is felt throughout the film, with a dry and arid universe that recalls as much the first Mad Max (which was a kind of western on wheels), as a spaghetti western à la Sergio Leone. Then the film evolves: we go from Fallout to Alien. The comparison with Alien is interesting because this part of Turi's film echoes it. A young woman, alone in a vehicle, prey to a dangerous and mysterious creature (reminiscent of the zombies of The Last of Us) seeking to survive by any means at her disposal. Staged in a very ingenious way (we never forget the monster that lurks around) without being too flashy (the staging knows how to be forgotten when necessary), Mathieu Turi shows that he has know-how. Finally, a word about the casting, Britanny Ashworth who is very convincing, totally invested in her role, and Javier Botet, terrifying in her role of zombie, with her disarticulated gestures, completely unique.
The romantic part is clearly the black spot of the film. More precisely its first part. The first scenes are extremely clichéd (we still take the pattern of a poor young woman, drugged, falling in love with the perfect prince charming, handsome and rich), not very well filmed, played in a way that could not be more approximate. What could have worked is ineffective through poor implementation. But, as the relationship between the two characters deepens, we manage to move away from clichés, as well as approximations of all kinds. The drama that this young couple lives ends up touching us deeply, and brings us closer to the universal drama. Grégory Fitoussi, meanwhile, has trouble leaving an image of bellaster, but we end up sincerely attached to his character.
Despite some flaws, Hostile remains a thoroughly entertaining genre film. Scary, moving and funny, accompanied by excellent actors and a well-controlled direction, this film deserves to be seen, and supported. Hostile was released on October 26, exclusively in Paris at the Grand-Rex.
Hostile trailer:
