Transform into Something Else (FANTASTIC) with This Mind-bending French Body Horror
Title: Else
First Non-Festival Release: TBD
Director: Thibault Emin
Writer: Alice Butaud, Thibault Emin, Emma Sandona
Runtime: 100 Minutes
Starring: Matthieu Sampeur, Edith Proust, Lika Minamoto
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
This film’s review was written after its screening at the Fantastic Film Festival in 2024.
They say during quarantine, people found themselves learning much about their partners due to the close proximity and lack of outside influence. The uncertainty of what’s going on outside can lead to a greater focus on the ones that remain inside.
This is what faces Anx (Matthieu Sampeur) and Cass (Edith Proust). A terrifying pandemic is sweeping the world where humans, creatures, and objects of all sorts begin to fuse together once they lock eyes. As the world gradually melts together, the duo makes the most out of their meager existence. It’s enough until a creature manages to squirm its way into their apartment, changing them both forever.
A powerful meditation on what it means to transform, Else is a trippy sci-fi horror film with excellent design.
The premise alone makes Else a compelling film, but it never rests easy to fully hit its points home. From the beginning, it would be easy to draw comparisons to the COVID-19 pandemic, and while it is certainly relevant, Else has been in development in some form since 2009. As the film progresses, it transforms into something unexpected, showcasing the harrowing nature of Anx and Cass’s situation. What was once their safe haven becomes their tomb when the matter begins to cocoon the couple inside the claustrophobic apartment walls. Their situation is compared to that of a lungfish by their mysterious upstairs neighbor Setsuko (Lika Minamoto). Forced to adapt to new hostile conditions after suffering in toxic waters, the lungfish takes its first breath of air on land. This sets the stage for everything to follow, both millions of years in the past for the lungfish and the present day for the couple. Government surveillance and the threat of exposure to the disease forces the pair inside, but intrusions from the outside threaten to break in and change them. Anx and Cass make the best of their situation, responsibly holding up in their apartment, enjoying their lives separated from the world. Even as the world gets worse outside, their hope remains the same.
It’s no surprise that Cass is the first one to get infected, but Anx’s reaction stuns more than anything. A hypochondriac to his core, his first instinct is to treat and care Cass rather than kill or retreat. Their forced proximity and genuine affection for each other supersedes Anx’s anxieties. Cass is not without her own transformation either. In her suffering, she begins to plead with Anx to leave her, so she can die, and he can go on without her. Her selflessness rings true even at the scariest part of her life. Both transform for each other long before and during the world’s turning. It’s what happens when committing to someone. The terror of the unknown, the wild, and the weird is meaningless when you are bound to someone who shares a bit of your soul. It’s evolution. And the final tender moments of Else reiterate this point beautifully.
The design team for Else certainly had a challenge set before them, and it’s incredible to report that they rise to the occasion and more. While watching the news, Anx and Cass express disbelief at the photos and videos of humans merging with animals, nature, and inanimate objects. Their understandable distrust is shattered when they see a man fuse with the asphalt outside their apartment. From this moment on, Else shows it isn’t playing around with its premise, and is intent on delivering something wild. Each amalgamation gets crazier and bigger with each passing day, making the final moments feel as apocalyptic as the initial days of lockdown. The texture and color jump out at viewers, giving Else a tactile feel. It’s hard not to feel sympathetic pangs of pain when characters move uncomfortably in their newly developed prison cocoons. Else manages to make its world feel real, and terrifyingly so, which is all anyone can ask from it.
Visually stunning, much of the meat of Else can be surmised through the barrage of terrifying and beautiful images. Aside from the wild visuals crafted through the special effects and set design teams, recurring images of birth give viewers a clue on the more personal messaging of the film. Amniotic fluid dripping across various surfaces, the act of reaching inside holes and other openings, and even the transformations themselves take on vaginal imagery. Mirroring these themes of evolution and rebirth that are layered throughout the story, Else takes on an entirely different aesthetic by the time it reaches its finale. Online reactionaries clamor to claim that these final visuals signal generative AI is implemented in Else, but it is exciting to know that the director Thibault Emin denies these claims. Else has been in production for years and the images in question were rendered long before these technologies even existed.
Its weirdness will turn off many, but cinephiles who love bold swings will appreciate how wild it gets. Fantastic set design, mesmerizing visuals, and a heartbreaking story of love, loss, and connection make Else a fever dream of horror fantasy. It’s heartening to see that fully realized visions like Else can make their way into the hearts of film lovers, as it is evident that so much soul went into this project. The wait may be long for general audiences, but Else promises something worth waiting for.
Overall Score? 9/10
