Having recently screened at Fantasia International Film Festival, the creepy French language film, Pandemonium, arrives at FrightFest. Written and directed by Quarxx, Pandemonium offers a chilling portrayal of the afterlife. Opening in the wake of a traffic collision on a bendy country road, Pandemonium is immediately unsettling. Two men, Nathan (Hugo Dillon) and Daniel (Arben Bajraktaraj), awaken on the side of the road. Nathan is overjoyed to have survived the crash that is in front of him, but Daniel quickly makes him realise that his elation may be premature.
This opening section of Pandemonium is steeped in atmosphere and tension. From a visual standpoint, the film’s beginning is stunning. The location itself – a winding country hillside – is something straight out of Silent Hill. This sensation continues with the inclusion of a heavy, thick mist that cuts off much of the surrounding area. The isolated landscape is accompanied by an empty soundscape, the environment devoid of the expected sounds of nature. It is the eerie quiet that ensures the viewer, like Nathan, buys into Daniel’s story of them being dead. The arrival soon after of two doors, one white, the other red, confirms his suspicions. As the men discuss which door to go through, the story twists on its head. The dreamlike quality to this sequence sets the tone perfectly for what is to follow.
Pandemonium is not a straight-forward narrative film. Much like the opening scenario, the flow and fluidity to the story is kept loose. It constantly morphs and pivots, generating the feeling of watching a waking nightmare. Nathan too, although introduced initially as the film’s protagonist, soon sits out the bulk of the runtime as Quarxx focuses on stories from other people’s lives. The shifting focus and bitesize stories give Pandemonium the impression of being an anthology. The beginning could easily be a self-contained short, although here it works as a wraparound, and the rest of the stories that Nathan encounters also feel like their own separate tales.
Of all the components of Pandemonium it is the second story that will turn the viewer inside out. Here a young girl, Jeanne, is introduced. To say that she is an odd child would be an understatement. Jeanne has a viciously mean streak and a warped perception of reality. Her malice is genuinely harrowing. She resides in a big Gothic homestead with her parents and younger sister, as well as Tony ‘the monster’ who lives underneath the house. This portion of Quarxx’s movie takes on a Brothers Grimm fairytale quality, complete with bloody beginnings and traumatic endings. This review will not spoil the horrors waiting with Jeanne, but will warn viewers to be prepared for some very, very dark content.
The next story in Nathan’s journey follows a mother and her suicidal daughter. This is another bleak tale; Quarxx is clearly not a fan of the concept of happy endings. It is not as terrifying as Jeanne however. Recognising the audience needs some respite from the depths of Hell into which Jeanne’s story descends, Quarxx keeps the horror elements to a minimum for this following segment. Whilst horrifying ideas are kept shielded from the viewer, Quarxx instead throws the audience through an emotional wringer as they watch a desperate mother try to connect with her disillusioned child. There are intense scenes of bullying and instances of suicidal thoughts, and actions resulting in it being just as uncomfortable as everything that has played out previously. It simply attacks the viewer from a different angle.
After throwing the viewer with two confronting ordeals, Quarxx arrives back with Nathan. Here he throws one final gut punch at the audience. In Pandemonium Quarxx has created a disturbing and distressing manifestation of the afterlife. Its Hellish nature is genuinely horrific to both watch and internalise. The world on screen is a viable interpretation of what awaits sinners on the other side and that alone will be enough to keep the viewer up at night.
Pandemonium
Summary
Pandemonium is gorgeous to look at, but its appearance masks grotesque ideas that are certain to unnerve viewers.
Pandemonium was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine Video FrightFest 2023.
