Two films of the ‘absurd and existential’ variety, both of which could easily have been classified as science fiction:
- Sophie Barthes’s Cold Souls offers the absurdist conceit of an actor (Paul Giamatti brilliantly playing himself), overburdened by his on-stage character, temporarily storing his soul in a locker and then struggling to get it back. The script engages without producing riveting drama, the atmosphere is suitably moody, and the film’s reflections on meaningful living are rolled out without histrionics. Clever and engaging. 3 stars.
- Richard Kelly’s The Box, also very much a director’s film, offers another humanistic challenge: a macabre man gives a 1970s American couple twenty-four hours to decide if they’ll accept a million dollars in exchange for the death of an unknown person. In contrast to the playfulness of Cold Souls, Kelly delivers a chilled, ambiguous ambience – complete with stylised acting from James Marsden and Cameron Diaz that accentuates the sense of unreality – to match the Twilight Zone plot. Fascinating without igniting. 3 stars.