| France-Haiti, 2019 | Drama/Horror | Independent | Trailer |
Zombi Child (yes, “zombi” without an “e”, since it’s French). I remember having read a text about this one some months ago, probably before the pandemic-related stuff, and while I didn’t remember anything concrete about it, it was an enough reason for me to try it out. Besides, the poster gave me a hunch of a promising movie.
And it delivered well. I saw a certainly unorthodox horror movie. Whilst I usually hate everything horror, I reckon that lately some horrors such as Midsommar, The Lighthouse, Under the Skin and the like have pleased me a lot. Precisely because their source of repulse comes from the ambiance built and a delightfully crafted suspense and not of scarejumps, body horror or other stereotypical formulae of the kind.
Well, Zombi Child is unorthodox even compared to the mentioned ones. In fact, most of the movie can’t even be considered horror, whilst it builds the aforementioned kind of suspense, or at least something atmospherical on the same terms. Only a scene near the ending was totally repulsive. The movie gathered all possible horror concoctions to be concentrated in the climax, so it comes out totally unexpected. A sudden change of pace that chokes you with its impact, and then it relaxes again and lets you breathe anew. Whilst I admit that I had to cover my eyes during some parts of that scene, it’s an AWESOME scene, composition-wise, and also establishes a nexus between movie and audience.
Another interesting thing is the writing and storytelling. It bases itself on one of the true cases of zombification in Haiti (you know, based on voodoo practices), and tells two intertwined stories. The zombified man’s experience in 1962 Haiti is intertwined with the story of two girls in modern day Paris, one of them of Haitian descent. Both storylines end merging, but in a creative fashion.
It was cool to see how, leaving the fiction aside, the movie depicts Haitian folkore and voodoo practices in a realistic way. The cinematography portraits it as what it is, a syncretised shamanism fueled by traditions and superstition binding God and spirits with everyday rituals and aspects. It’s shown full of colours and music, with a kind of grace, leaving all possible false connotations of witchcraft and wicked, daemonic stuff away.
And perhaps the most important thing of all here could be the movie establishing a strong nuance between the concept of zombie and the concept of slave. It portrays the act of creating a slave as the death of humanity. Without becoming radically political, it represents a chant of pride and hope thet can get the audience emotional. I got several goosebumps in many occasions.
Summing it all up. An unorthodox horror movie, zombie movie, drama movie, with a lyrical, colourful, cry of hope and representation of Haitian identity. In line with some of my previous posts, this movie is even interesting as a documentary of a lesser known culture.
A true delight and black horse to bet on.