The Laplace’s Demon review: A film shot over the course of seven years gets it’s UK debut at Frightfest.
The Laplace’s Demon review by Awais Irwan.
The Laplace’s Demon review
Sometimes you can look at just how a certain film was constructed and it becomes notorious for that very reason – think Boyhood and its real-time story; Tangerine for being shot on iPhone; Unfriended and Searching and their screen storytelling. The Laplace’s Demon is of similar merit: a story that takes place over night, seven years in the making. And it’s impressively constructed, for sure
The titular “Laplace Demon” isn’t some supernatural entity or being but rather a theory; it suggests that if someone knows the precise location of every atom, they could predict everything to come and with the most minute attention to detail too. When a group of researches looking at this very theory are invited by a mysterious professor to a mansion to partake in his scientific experiment, they find things going horribly awry as they all begin to disappear one by one. But beyond that, they discover some dark secrets within the mansion – just pieces in the professor’s dark game.
The Laplace’s Demon is full of wonderful surprises that, without getting into, display some very impressive production design and filmmaking techniques that only add to the film’s constant tension and horror – imagine if Alfred Hitchcock directed an episode of The Twilight Zone and you’re on the right lines for what director Giordano Giulivi’s piece entails. There are lots of clever little tricks the film hides up its sleeves – in both the narrative and construction of the film alike – that can be a lot of fun to watch witness and unravel before your eyes. The constant suspense and fear of the unpredictable make this an engaging and thrilling watch and add to the horror on show.
The Laplace’s Demon review
But sadly, the film lacks much else beyond its surface-level flair. The acting is all very heightened and unbelievable; the writing and dialogue is often mawkish and wooden; the characters are paper-thin. The mystery is intriguing enough to keep its audience engaged but it takes quite a while before many of our questions are answered and there’s a lot of waiting around whilst things happen without much explanation before that which can cause the film to drag quite a bit. It’s a hard film to connect with given we don’t have any likeable presences to root for or too much actually giving weight to any of the terror we see occurring. It’s a lot of show, not much tell.
The Laplace’s Demon is very impressive in its construction; to avoid spoilers, we can’t quite divulge in just how but there are many inventive things it does with its setting and characters to add to the tension and fear of the story. And just the fact it was shot over seven years is pretty cool too. But, unlike the likes of the aforementioned Boyhood, Tangerine, Unfriended etc, construction does not lead to a very good film here. It has its moments and when the film excels, it really does excel but it just feels lacking to reach the film it could have – and occasionally shows signs of – being. Instead, it’s an impressive albeit hollow and terribly thin affair that is more bark than bite and more show than tell.
The Laplace’s Demon review by Awais Irwan, August 2018.
The Laplace’s Demon screened at Arrow Video Frightfest 2018.
