Following a tragic accident caused by drunk driving in Gaspésie, a former professional snowboarder leading a life of debauchery decides to pack up and leave the place for good, but someone – or something – seems determined to stop him.
It’s a very original proposal that Gabriel Allard made to us for his first feature film, which saw the light of day 10 years after the birth of the basic idea. A Quebec suspense, in English, on the tribulations of an ex-athlete in psychological distress, what does it give? The result is incongruous, but certainly succeeds in entertaining us.
Shot in the Haute Gaspésie, where the story is also set, Snow Angel (Loweringin the French version) is a film which holds in suspense and which sometimes gives the impression of being the hero of a sordid video game. We observe Mary-Jane (Catherine Bérubé, also co-screenwriter), alias MJ, dazed in a kind of process of redemption following an accident which would have killed the relatives of her best friend.
A former snowboarding champion, the protagonist tumbles into a state of constant tension, losing her bearings and doubting all her perceptions. Enigmatic encounters with different actors in her life, including a little girl with an evocative speech whose role will be kept silent, will lead us to understand the story of MJ and what led her to this mess.
When the film switches to its horror portion, we sometimes flirt with the laughable and the absurd, which sometimes works well and other times, less so. Unfortunately, this lack of consistency sometimes harms the appreciation of the film. We stop adhering to the supernatural beliefs it imposes and the thread that held our attention breaks, breaking the rhythm.
Catherine Bérubé, however, is impeccable in her role as a fallen American athlete. When our interest threatens to evaporate, her acting captures our attention and we’re hooked on her character’s strange quest again.
The product lacks a bit of finesse, the outline of the scenario sometimes appearing too clearly to us. But we can only salute the audacity to present a story like this, frightening and playful at the same time, which is not often discussed in Quebec cinema.
Snow Angel is presented in the original English version, in the French dubbed version and also in the English version with French subtitles.
Indoors
thriller
Snow Angel (VF: Lowering)
Gabriel Allard
With Catherine Bérubé, Paul Doucet, Kimberly-Sue Murray, Alexandre Nachi and Olivier Renaud
1:32