After bursting on the scene with their debut film A L’interieur, aka Inside, arguably the best film to spawn from the New French Extremity movement that began in the early 2000s, the directorial duo of Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury have struggled to reach the same heights. While some of their recent efforts have been promising, the latest from the duo, The Soul Eater, looks to capitalise on all that promise and more.

After a grizzly pair of murders in the small French mountain town of Roquenoir, a pair of investigators, each with their own angle to explore, arrive concurrently at the scene of the crime. Commander Elisabeth Guardiano (Virginie Ledoyen) is there to investigate the grizzly nature of the crime, and despite evidence suspects there is more to the story. Meanwhile, Captain of the Gendarmerie (military police), from the “department of alarming disturbances” Franck De Rolan (Paul Hamy) is investigating a spate of missing children’s cases in the immediate area. First at odds with each other, the pair soon realize their cases are more entwined than they first thought. As more bodies start to drop, the local legend of the “Soul Eater” becomes a focus of the investigation.

While not necessarily a horror film, The Soul Eater is a grizzly, gory, grimy, and unrelenting crime drama that firmly fulfils the promise of Bustillo and Maury. While not wholly original, the film is well-written and directed with standout performances from its leads and a shoutout to excellent supporting turns from Sandrine Bonnaire and Francis Renaud. A mystery until the final act, The Soul Eater delivers both suspense and the brutal gore that marked their arrival in Inside. Easily the best film they have produced since that debut, seek this one out.