[REVIEW] BITS22: L'Inhumain
Movie content warning: violence, supernatural elements, substance abuse.
Runtime: 86 minutes
Bright and brilliant neurosurgeon Matthieu Cote (Samian) loses everything in rapid succession, including his wife to a divorce, his position in a hospital, and his father. These losses culminate and force him to visit his family home on Anishinaabe land, the home that he has been avoiding visiting for quite some time. Matthieu is faced with having to examine his life choices⸺substance abuse, cheating on his wife, the death of a patient at his own hands⸺that have led him back home and to the place where something supernatural is waiting for him: the Wendigo.
L’Inhumain is the supernatural horror from director and producer Jason Brennan (Rustic Oracle 2019, Last Call Indien 2010), a Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg filmmaker based in Quebec. The film focuses on Indigenous neurosurgeon Matthieu who left his community at a young age to pursue his education and a medical career. The death of his father brings him home to his mother and their small-knit community to face the choices he has made in a supernatural and metaphorical journey of accountability and acceptance of his fate. Once returning home, Matthieu starts to experience horrifying dreams, hearing creatures lurking in the dark, and seeing the Wendigo in flash visions that strike him out.
The depiction of the Wendigo is built through special effects and the narrative sewn throughout told in flashbacks that show Matthieu and his father’s experiences when the creature first arrives in their home. As the film progresses, the audience witnesses Matthieu’s reluctance to take responsibility for his actions and to to avoid the impending doom of his assailant, the Wendigo. Samian portrays a demoralised Matthieu who on returning to his family home must take on the curse of the creature. Brennan brings to the screen a unique depiction of the mythological creature that originated in First Nations folklore stories, a creature that consumes it’s victims due to their greed or weakness.
The film and backdrop of the Canadian wilderness is beautifully captured by cinematographer, François Dutil. There are moments of tranquility that are broken through the arrival of ominous smoke and the sound of haunting creatures. The high-quality production is an element that adds further depth to a script that focuses on the disrupted connections between characters and their development throughout. Véronique Beaudet (Julie Cote) and Samian (Matthieu Cote) are multidimensional in their anger, dismay, and their ability to depict the complex nature of their lives.
Narrative-wise, Brennan has crafted a symbiotic metaphor between Matthieu, his past, and the wendigo. The story that unravels Matthieu’s battle with his demons is well-written and progresses smoothly with little issues from acting or below-par script writing. Brennan has certainly provided a hearty and well-delivered story and film that has surely set a high bar for any incoming features from the filmmaker. L’Inhumain beautifully captures the weakness of humans and how we can become consumed and haunted by these moments of frailty. The twist in the final act brings the film to a sensational close, showing that even though one thinks they have achieved redemption, there may be something out there that can snatch it away. Brennan has created a wonderful horror story that tells the nature of the Wendigo from an Indigenous perspective, a much needed element. L’Inhumain is a wonderfully crafted and filmed story that depicts the struggle of maintaining the reality that we have against the fate that is destined for us.
