“With Zombi Child, Bertrand Bonello has made a film that tries to reclaim the zombie’s classic roots. Returning in it are mystic voodoo tropes and evil voodoo masters, which haven’t really been seen in the genre since its pre-Romero heydays (outside of The Serpent and the Rainbow). But rather than merely being an update of White Zombie and its ilk, Zombi Child takes a postmodern, historical bent that makes the movie into something a whole lot more. Zombi Child ends strongly, telling a powerful story of generational trauma, and re-codifying the meaning of the zombie for new thematic resonance. That the entire movie preceding is gorgeous to look at and poetic in its movements is an easy bonus.”
— JM Mutore,
“Zombi Child looks and sounds beautiful, lush, and immersive – writer-directors this intellectually ambitious are rarely such seductive stylists…
the film is thrilling to watch, because it truly feels like anything is possible
as Bonello teases different directions the film might head. Zombi Child
is the rare film that’s both rich in ideas and fun, a reckoning with
forces colonial powers would like buried, but that won’t stay dead. “
— Joe Blessing, The Playlist
“Zombi Child marches to an innocuous and bone-chilling beat
before unfurling its tapestry of the sacred, absurd, and tragic.”
— Caroline Cao, Slash Film
“With Zombi Child [Bonello] takes a genre and blows it to smithereens
by mashing horror with voodoo, teen coming-of-age, and, of course, the
ever-popular zombie thriller…[he] effectively tackles themes such as
freedom, slavery and white privilege. And the final 20 minutes
are absolutely riveting…”
— Frank J. Avella, Edge Media
SYNOPSIS
ZOMBI CHILD, from director Bertrand Bonello (Nocturama, Saint Laurent) injects history and politics into an unconventional cross-genre film. Opening in 1962 Haiti, the horror-fantasy follows the real-life story of Clairvius Narcisse (Mackenson Bijou), who falls dead on the street but is soon turned into a “zombi” when he is dug up from his grave and forced to work on a sugar-cane plantation. Shifting to present-day Paris at the Légion d’honneur boarding school, a rebellious teen named Fanny (Louise Labèque) befriends Melissa (Wislanda Louimat), who moved to France when her parents died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake. After recruiting her into a secret literary sorority, Fanny learns of Melissa’s connection to Clairvius, and becomes obsessed with her new friend’s past and culture, soon doing the unthinkable: seeking out her voodoo mambo aunt to solve her recent heartbreak. Jonathan Romney of Screen Daily said, “Mixing political commentary, ethnography, teenage melodrama and genre horror, the film is an unashamedly cerebral study of multiple themes…taking us on a journey that’s as intellectually demanding as it is compelling”.
SELECT THEATRICAL DATES
1/24: Film at Lincoln Center (NYC)
1/24: Quad Cinema (NYC)
1/24: Gene Siskel Film Center (Chicago)
1/31: Alamo Drafthouse (Brooklyn; weekend shows)
2/7-9: SIFF Film Center (Seattle)
2/21: Nuart (Los Angeles)
2/21: MFA Boston
2/28: Cosford Art Cinema (Miami)
2/28: O Cinema Miami Beach
2/28: Landmark Opera Plaza (San Francisco)
2/28: Landmark Shattuck Cinema (Berkeley, CA)
2/28: Cinema Salem (MA)
3/6: The Grand Berry (Ft. Worth, TX)
3/6: Gateway Film Center (Columbus, OH)
ZOMBI CHILD (2019)
Written and Directed by: Bertrand Bonello
Cast: Louise Labèque, Wislanda Louimat, Katiana Milfort, Macenson Bijou, Adilé David, Ninon François, Mathilde Riu, Ginite Popote, Néhémy
Pierre-Dahomey
Produced by: Bertrand Bonello, Judith Lou Lévy
Music by: Bertrand Bonello
Cinematography by: Yves Cape
RT: 103 minutes
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Language: French and Haitian with English Subtitles
