“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
A classic tale from the one and only, a positive story often gifted to those who are on their way after graduating. . . but, what happens if you take the wrong path, or as the master word twister so cheekily put it, “You can get so confused that you’ll start in a race down long wiggled roads at a break-neck pace and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space, head, I fear, toward a most useless place. . .”, or, as the title of today’s short film puts it, I Will Crush You and Go to Hell (2016).
Co-written and directed by the team of Fabio Soares and Célia Paysan, the twenty-two minute short is actually, in essence, a back door pilot used as a teaser in order to make a feature length film (full warning, no ending as of yet).
An exploitation B movie with a glossy A finish, Go to Hell finds its place somewhere between edgier Thelma and Louise and traditional film noir (with a modern gothic tinge), the dialogue having a hard boiled patter that is reminiscent of stylistic Quentin Tarantino and eccentric David Lynch, it hitting upon every element of sub-genre – at times sultry, at others, violent and bloody (its female-led story and less than likeable male characters has it fitting right into the worldwide discussion currently in the supercharged air).
Following two sisters, Colorado (Petra Silander) and Louise Fox (Lise Gardo), their inherent nature has won out over nurture – two pained, fractured souls who seek revenge for a life that has been wholly unfair. A non-existent beauty queen mother (who may be living or dead) and a deadbeat of a father, bitterness and neglect (and, perhaps, a few too many lines of cocaine) has bred a near unfathomable amount of contempt, for as they bury their less-than-dear-old-daddy, they plot to recover all of his money – that the man left to an elusive woman cryptically known as Apple Pie. . . this last slight bringing out the fatale in the femmes (the pair hopping into their convertible to track her down).
Yet, it is not as simple as that. . . the young women, especially the younger Louise, has questions (brought forth by a bitter motel manager who knew their mother back when they were competing on the beauty pageant circuit – played by Elisabeth Duda), a momentary flash of curiosity that hints that there is something behind the masks they have put up to guard against showing the pain and weakness that has festered within them due to their checkered past. They are fascinating characters astutely brought to life by the two female leads.
With a striking cinematography (by Cyril Bron) that exquisitely captures the endless vistas of the Montgros desert in Spain, there is a foreboding, almost haunting feeling to the short, its editing and pacing a thrilling ride into the unknown (further drawing us into their story).
Dynamic in its every element, the opening credits are their own spectacle, a part black and white, part kaleidoscopic hallucinatory trip constructed in a James Bond-style – song overlapping with ever-changing visuals of the Gothic double, screams, seedy stops along the way, a rosary, a gun, splashes of a bloody substance, and the road going ever on and on – a sort of cryptic foreboding that sets the tone; while the eerily fitting soundtrack from Junksista only adds to the piece. . . and, intriguingly, its international cast (all solid performances) also furthers the off-kilter effect – unsure of where we truly are on said road and who we can trust in this beautifully stark and rugged world.
A fascinating, slick, on-the-road movie that takes an edgy and violent turn towards the end, I Will Crush You and Go to Hell is the winner of numerous awards, including finding itself as a May 2018 selection of the St. Lawrence International Film Festival (it is definitely worth checking out their online short film official selections) – making this film making duo a pair to watch for in the future. Lastly, as it is a French movie (though it is in English), I would like to make a comparison to the 2015 French feature The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun – it having an equally stylish, abstract and retro format. “So, get on your way” to discovering this fascinating short film, it is as sweet as an apple pie seasoned with bitterness.