Vincent Must Die [Fantasia International Film Festival Review]
Wild and weird is the name of the game at the Fantasia International Film Festival. One of the wildest, weirdest entries at the 2023 edition was the French thriller Vincent Must Die. Karim Leklou plays office worker Vincent. One day, for no apparent reason, an intern walks up and starts assaulting him. The guy doesn’t remember why he did it afterward, and the boss suggests everyone simply forget about the incident.
That proves impossible for Vincent because it’s the first of many assaults. Whenever he makes eye contact with someone, they instantly attack. Friends, coworkers, strangers – it doesn’t matter. He can’t go anywhere without getting beaten. A chance encounter with a man suffering the same condition provides a ray of hope. Vincent takes the guy’s advice, getting a dog for protection and going off the grid. As he looks for answers, he encounters a waitress named Margaux (Vimala Pons) who agrees to help him. After trying to kill him, of course.
Vincent Must Die has several harrowing scenes, including a brutal fight with an assailant in a field of mud. Both participants get covered in filth, even starting to choke on it as it gets into their mouths. Other scenes are humorous, as when Vincent proves his condition to Margaux by entering a grocery store, then running out while being chased by about two dozen people. Director Stéphan Castang modulates the tone as needed, creating a balance between dark comedy and tension. He gets across the paranoia his main character becomes engulfed in.
The premise does get slightly repetitive after a while given the 108-minute running time, although the screenplay adds new layers to freshen it up. Karim Leklou, meanwhile, keeps you invested with his performance, which offers a sense of befuddlement that’s highly entertaining to behold. Vincent Must Die is an oddball movie, and that’s precisely what makes it so watchable. On one hand, it’s a crazy story about a man with an unusual affliction. On the other, it speaks to the hostility toward others that’s becoming more commonplace in our world.
Vincent Must Die is unrated, but contains strong language and violence. The running time is 1 hour and 48 minutes.
