BFI Flare 2020 - Came the Wave
BFI Flare 2020Benjamin Busnel's Vint la Vague (Come the Wave) is a thematically rich, intense and disturbing short that examines a range of societal and gender pressures. These are hidden within the context of horror genre convention in the same vein as A Quiet Place and It Comes at Night.
Busnel's film is layered expertly with subtext that could very easily have been overridden with excessive indulgence in its enigmatic apocalyptic plot. However, Busnel instead intensifies and explores the thematic flavours of this world with a feministic spin creating terrific results.
Themes of isolation, motherhood, lust and morality are explored, each with a sufficient sprinkle of layering to open this world up. This is done enough to understand the stakes and, in doing so, allows the characters to be fleshed out and craft a world with inciting thoughts and substance.
Leading the way is Clotilde Hesme as Dom, a character engulfed in past trauma. This character is in the midst of exploring motherhood and being a lover in the same breath. A compelling, cloudy, but nevertheless engaging arc to see developed. Coupled with the naivety of Noée Abita's character, Mathilde, of whom offers a boiling pot of tension and circumstance on her characters ideals of love.
From its enigmatic beginning to its palpable and darkly intense climax, Busnel's Vint la Vague is a short that works on every level, subtextually and contextually. There is a profound weight to each and every moment with valuable consequence, and one that screams to be explored further.
