Frightfest Glasgow 2024: ‘The Soul Eater’ Review
Stars: Virginie Ledoyen, Paul Hamy, Sandrine Bonnaire, Francis Renaud | Written by Annelyse Batrel, Ludovic Lefebvre | Directed by Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Two detectives with entirely different work methods are sent to the sleepy French mountain town of Roquenoir. One is investigating a series of gruesome deaths. The other is searching for some missing local children. Soon, they realise their cases are connected… by an old folklore legend of a malevolent creature, the terrifying incarnation of the Soul Eater.
The Soul Eater is a suspenseful tale of small-town horror, very much akin to similar films set in abandoned “ghost” towns. The kinds of towns synonymous with closely guarding its secrets and a weariness of outsiders. And here the audience is very much an outsider, learning what’s happening at the same time as the film’s two protagonists – Franck and Elizabeth – which the film is very much mystery-driven.
However, once the identity of the mysterious biker who is present at each crime scene is revealed the film falls apart. Knowing that an outsider is not to blame for what’s going on AND what he’s really in town for, suspicion immediately falls on the townsfolk, meaning that the rest of the film plays out in a very cliched fashion.
It’s not just the townsfolk hiding things – The Soul Eater is a film whose characters all have ulterior motives / unspoken motivations. The two lead characters are driven by trauma in different ways, both are a little reckless, but both are doggedly determined in the pursuit of the truth no matter the personal or professional cost.
Being a mystery, there are clues strewn along the way as to why Franck is in town – but it’s obvious from the get-go that his intimate knowledge is more than just that of an investigator knowing the crimes. The idea he may be the killer is floated – but that’s the case in ALL these types of movies, it’s one of the biggest cliches in the genre! It doesn’t work because we know the cliche, we know his involvement is a red herring. It ALWAYS is.
The Soul Eater is unlike the directing duo’s other work in that it feels more mainstream (probably due to the involvement of Amazon, whose Prime logo appears at the film’s opening), there’s still is some gore and brutality but it feels like its kept to a minimum… which means it really adds shock value and impact where needed.
It feels like, when the whole picture of the film’s story I revealed, that shock is ultimately what The Soul Eater is aiming for. A police procedural may be a left-field choice for Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury given their past work but it proves that the duo can deliver brilliantly entertaining work (in very different ways) whatever subject, whatever the genre.
**** 4/5
The Soul Eater screened on Friday, March 8th as part of this year’s Pigeon Shrine Glasgow Frightfest.
