Evanouis: an ambitious and taking horrifying suspense (criticism)

Less brutal than Barbaria who revealed it, the new Zach Cregger is so as much on the side of Magnolia as the pure terror. And keeps us going despite a deceptive ending

A child’s OFF voice plants the decor immediately. This small town in Florida which has never recovered from a mysterious affair that this film will work to tell us for 2:10 without dead time. The unexplained disappearance the same night at the same time of all children of the same class, with the exception of a single little boy. For what ? How ? We owe this starting point that a Stephen King would not have denied to Zach Cregger, propelled new terrible child of the indie cinema with his first solo feature (after experiences that are convincing in duet with Trevor Moore, including the terrible Miss Mars in 2009, named to the raid awards), the savage and very barbaric political landed on the Disney + and Instant Surrounded by an aura of worship.

While keeping a political and societal background (police corruption, a frantic quest for a scapegoat supposed to solve all the problems …), Evanouis turns out to be less openly brutal than his predecessor but testifies to the ambition of its author to climb an additional march instead of resting on his laurels. We thus think a lot of the Magnolia of Paul Thomas Anderson both for this ability to create a fantastic atmosphere without going through gore or the ease of Jump Scares in Gogo. But also by the bias of a polyphonic story to the exploded structure where each character will deliver one of the pieces of this large puzzle. The teacher that the Vox Populi seems to be responsible with accusation in witchcraft to the key (Juli Garner, phenomenal). Father Charpentier, inconsolable of a disappeared child (Josh Brolin, impeccable). A local cop rather badly bad than healing his addiction to alcohol. The only child who is not disappeared from the class. And his bereaved aunt came to settle with her parents.

Evanouis belongs to this category of films where the path to the outcome counts more towards the resolution in itself. And we enjoy the talent of Cregger to create tension by little things. To raise the pressure by a scenario where what we plan thanks to a management with the cord of the outdoors is always more important than what we see and by a large and elegant staging which leaves room for his actors to express himself. Congger thus creates a depressed, melancholy climate on the screen which allows the terror to hit even stronger when it arises. And all the more so that it does it without ever resting banal on the simple surprise effect. Too bad when the very last straight line, that of the explanations – that we will obviously not spoil – is not up to the height of the above. That everything seems too immediately understandable and by ricochet too simplistic. But even in this deceptive phase, lightning lightnings manage not to spoil everything. The walking was perhaps too high for a second film but we can’t wait to see the following!

Of Zach Cregger. With Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich… Duration: 2h08.