‘Vincent Must Die’ Movie Review [Fantasia 2023]: A French Horror-Comedy With Bite
Photo from Fantasia International Film Festival
From Jeff Nelson
Vincent Must Die taps into the fear of strangers and the wildly unpredictable nature of humanity. Director Stéphan Castang makes his directorial debut in this satirical horror film that mostly succeeds in its hunt for laughs and thrills that come from Mathieu Naert’s compelling concept.
Vincent Borel (Karim Leklou) is an ordinary Frenchman working a graphic design office job that suddenly turns violent when the intern brutally attacks him. What initially appears to be an isolated incident turns into a much bigger problem, as everyone around him grows the irresistible urge to kill him. Vincent has no choice but to change his entire way of life to protect himself from the attacks, while still pursuing a potential love interest with a woman named Margaux Lamy (Vimala Pons).
Vincent Must Die brings inevitable comparisons to the likes of Edgar Wright’s hilarious Shaun of the Dead, but there aren’t zombies at the core of the terror. Rather, they’re seemingly normal people overtaken by an all-consuming desire for violence, speaking volumes on anxiety, social cues, and the overwhelming feeling of being publicly swarmed, particularly in the current digital age. The result is an apocalyptic scenario that takes insecurity to the extreme in a way that’s equal parts scary and funny.
The violent encounters only grow in intensity, forcing Vincent to change his way of life to limit his exposure to other people. He simply wants to live a peaceful life, but he clumsily fails in true comedic fashion, bringing on brief moments of extreme violence. The more Naert’s screenplay exposes, the more dire the stakes become in a combination of horror and comedy.
Vincent lives a rather solitary life, which reflects in the supporting cast of characters that briefly appear along the way. However, Margaux marks a turning point in Vincent’s approach to this odd phenomenon, as well as for the plot itself. Vincent Must Die loses some of its edge here, exploring a romantic narrative that doesn’t ring sincere. We never learn much about either character, but the weight of Vincent’s life-threatening dangers is palpable. It’s a shame that it doesn’t extend to romantic chemistry.
The connection between Vincent and Margaux doesn’t have much room to breathe, suddenly transforming the stakes into danger that doesn’t feel as notable. Nevertheless, the actors still give grounded performances. Leklou perfectly pulls off playing the ordinary man, delivering on the comedic moments with deadpan expressions that really drive them home. Pons is likable as Margaux, making her feel especially wasted as a plot device without much of her own agency.
Vincent Must Die is a twisted genre-bender with a gripping apocalyptic scenario that starts strong but loses steam. Castang and Naert construct a distinctive narrative made substantially more intriguing by how they infuse social commentary on violence within the framework of an ordinary man whose unremarkable life is thrown into utter chaos.
Rating: 3/5
Vincent Must Die played at Fantasia 2023 on July 21st, 2023.
