Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just five days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.
DAY THREE
Vic+Flow Saw a Bear
Vic (Pierrette Robitaille) is a parolee who retreats to her ailing uncle’s sugar shack in Quebec. She is joined by current love interest and fellow ex-con Flo (Romane Bohringer). Vic and Flo’s attempts to live a peaceful life in the woods are constantly interrupted by various people, including a parole officer named Guillaume (Marc-André Grondin) and an intrusive neighbor (Marie Brassard). Eventually, these pesky people create major problems for the couple.
VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR, which played in competition at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, is Denis Côté’s follow-up to the documentary BESTIAIRE. The film’s mix of drama, noir, and dark humor defies easy categorization. VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR takes place in a small town inhabited by weird quirky characters that weave in and out of the story. At first, everyone’s motives are obscure. As the plot unfolds, a nasty underlying truth emerges. Robitaille’s and Bohringer’s excellent performances as the titular characters are at the core of the film’s power. Viewers will root for these flawed yet sympathetic characters. When the pair meets their fate, the impact is simply devastating. (Rodney Perkins)
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