I try very hard not to use what I consider to be clichés in my reviews. Saying something is a tour de force feels trite. Arguing that a film is boring feels superfluous. I’ve long felt that if I’m going to do this, I’m going to avoid using statements that carry weight by their existence. Truly, I dislike when a reviewer does so.
I’m going to have to break this rule to discuss Jeremy Clapin’s live action I Lost My Body follow-up, Meanwhile on Earth. Here it goes: the film is beautiful, but empty. Yuck. Felt gross to lay it all out like that.
In Meanwhile on Earth, Megan Northam plays Elsa, a young woman grieving the loss of her brother Franck (voice of Sébastian Ponderoux). Franck was lost in an interstellar voyage, and Elsa spends her days adrift, rotating between her day job as a nurse at an elderly care facility and long drives around the memorial concocted to honour Franck. It becomes readily apparent that Elsa would do anything to have her brother back.
Elsa desires lead her to an interstellar group that hold Franck hostage. They propose a deal wherein Elsa must provide them with five host bodies, and then they will return her brother. Herein lies the issue: Clapin utilizes this dilemma as plot device more than thematic one. Elsa realizes that she must choose lives she deems to be of less importance, but the plotting of the film is such that this reveal happens around the midpoint, leaving not enough time to delve into the humanity on display. The film is gorgeous, and a technical marvel. It also does not really seem interested in answering the questions it is posing. It’s a cliché, but it is kind of empty.
- Rated: 17+
- Genre: Drama, Science Fiction
- Release Date: 7/23/2024
- Directed by: Jérémy Clapin
- Starring: Catherine Salée, Megan Northam, Nicolas Avinée, Roman Williams, Sam Louwyck, Sofia Lesaffre, Yoann Thibaut Mathias
- Produced by: Marc Du Pontavice
- Written by: Jérémy Clapin
- Studio: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, One World Films
