Infested, Burning, Cinema.

(Or, why Sébastien Vaniček is qualified to direct Evil Dead Burn.)

The French sure know how to do body horror.

Screen grab of Manon (Lisa Nyarko)

French horror film Infested follows a group of working class young people fighting to survive a breed of relentless spiders that have overrun their building. Sébastien Vaniček masters the monster genre in this thoughtful yet alarming film set to a soundtrack of French rap and ragged screams - a resumé we love to see for an Evil Dead director. Spoilers ahead as I dive deep into this (no, I won’t say web) claustrophobic nightmare. If you can’t bear to watch a spider film, this review is for you.

The panic is learned through the lens of real spiders: the early scares showing realistic spider encounters solidifying a tangible fear that follows the viewer even as the spiders become more monstrous. Since we had already identified these creatures as a textured threat with behaviours similar to real spiders, the fear only grows as they do as opposed to shrinking with a sense of disbelief that often follows oversized animal threats.

The acting is truly what makes this film so special. The lead performances from Theo Christine and Sofia Lesaffre haunt the viewer long after the end credits. Caleb (played by Theo) is a troubled boy mourning the loss of his mother and navigating a lost friendship with Jordi, with whom he shared a love for animals. He shows his kind nature through interactions with his neighbours, though maintaining a shielded countenance that erupts gradually through short bursts of pent-up anger; culminating in a vicious fight with police after they allow Jordi to die in the corridor. Sofia Lesaffre showcases our fears; terrified of even one spider, a performance that the audience can wholly relate to and sympathise with as she is forced to confront a nightmare that has her constantly twitching. Ragged, ugly wails echo through the vents as the group are forced to listen to their friend be torn apart from the inside out only a room away. The cacophony of Jordi’s cries of pain, the wet screams from Lily (Sofia), and Caleb’s heartbreaking wails of apology meld to create the ultimate tableau of hopelessness. The music cuts, and we hear this scene in all its ugly glory. Matys has a quiet arc of strength in the film, initially being shown as an MMA fighter looking to prove his strength, he ends the film sacrificing his body in a courageous act of defiance to give his friends the chance at escape. An ending shot of Matys in MMA gear is a beautiful full-circle moment that demonstrates a boy who indeed had the strength inside him all along. The friendship turmoils in this film are heartbreaking and feel real - misunderstandings and mistakes tangled in a web (no pun intended, seriously) of grief are irritatingly relatable. It almost makes you want to settle your scores.

The actual spiders themselves are interesting in this film, and share scary similarities to real spiders. Modelled off a desert spider as opposed to a black widow, they are a creature not often shown in spider flicks - this takes away a layer of comfort for the viewer who must confront a realistic yet uncharted type of monster. They are light sensitive and are often seen resting, traits that further tether them to reality and give our characters a fighting chance. As aforementioned, these realistic quirks allow us to connect with them as a physical threat even as they become larger and faster. But enough about real spiders, these fuckers are monstrous. We see what damage the original, small spider does to Tourmani in a case of minutes as opposed to hours. Lila says “something that kills that fast is medieval”, a phrase that chills the characters and emphasises the stakes. The possibility of a poisonous spider bite is deadly enough… but when the creatures begin to nest inside people and gestate larger spiders, it’s a straight up nightmare courtesy of Alien (1979). We hear this happen to Jordi as the rest of the characters do, through a soundscape of his screams and the familiar clicks of the spiders. Just prior to this we see a body nested in webs split open as a dog-sized spider forces its way out (chestburster, anyone?), so while we don’t see Jordi die, we feel it. There is no reasoning with this threat, no bargain of forgiveness to strike: only pain and death.

The cinematography is undeniably astounding and blends with the lower-class flat block in an edgy way: bridging the gap between blockbuster monster movies and indie horror. One sequence stands out in particular - the corridor. The gang opens a door and the electric guitar stops and starts like a heartbeat, we see their individual faces twisted in shock and fear before we are shown what they see. Then a singular shot, spinning, rotating down the corridor completely entrenched in spiders takes us the route the gang have to follow in order to get to the parking garage. This slow spiral lasts more than thirty seconds, allowing the audience to really comprehend how difficult this will be. Another stand out scene is the one following Jordi’s tragic death: policemen finding the surviving four and ruthlessly beating them half to death. The gang are upset and certainly confrontational, but the brutal response from armed police hits close to home as they are punched, kicked, choked to suffocation, and finally tear gassed - a prevalent threat in both France and the US/UK to working class people of colour. They wake up in the parking garage in a deflating yet almost comedic twist of fate, just metres away from where Jordi died against the police-barricaded door.

Sébastien Vaniček proved himself with this nightmare in a confined space - a classic Evil Dead trope! I for one will be expecting nothing less than awesome for his interpretation of Evil Dead Burn after this 10/10 horror with elements of dark comedy seamlessly placed in between gore and terror.