Infested: French Cinema Kicks Hollywood’s Ass
Hollywood has declined. This is arguable, but also demonstrable in many ways. Extraordinary and unsustainable production costs, a notable lack of talent in both casting/writing and setbacks from Covid or the writer strike have resulted in a deficit of output. Sure, Oppenheimer was memorable and entertaining, replanting the flag in big budgets capable of wooing audiences, but really — what has Hollywood done for us lately?
Cinema-goers are increasingly looking to European, Korean and even Russian studios for comfort food. Infested is output worthy of praise and a swaggering new kid on the block which proves that you can make a rip-roaring movie without bottomless budgets and big name casts.
A horror following in the footsteps of Arachnophobia, Eight Legged Freaks and Attack the Block, the surface layer of Finnegan Oldfield’s Infested (Vermines) is a spider-based horror intended to trigger phobias and scare the willies out of casual horror fans. Under the surface lurks a brooding commentary on the immigrant and slum-land cultures of high rise communities, pointing an endearing and topical lens at the lives and tribulations of under priveleged French society, their attempts at cohesion in the face of brutal authoritarian regimes (represented by police brutality) and alienation from general society. The spider is the star, of course, but the underscore is loyalty, friendship, family and the importance of neighbourhood.
Spoilers ahead…
Kaleb is a young man who finds himself orphaned and living with his sister in an apartment previously owned by his mother. The sister lives in denial of her mother’s death while Kaleb struggles to find a balance between loyalties to friends/neighbours and an overwhelming grief. He finds comfort in a menagerie of exotic pets, acquired under illicit circumstances.
When he visits his regular supplier, Kaleb impulsively buys a spider — the ultimate representation of motherhood — which we know (from the opening scene) possesses dark and deadly capabilities. Kaleb, of course, remains blissfully ignorant until the spider escapes and all hell breaks loose. The metaphor is clear. Kaleb must defeat the ties he has to his mother in order to grow. But grief is cruel and elemental by nature. So too is the spider, and the more you try to avoid the inevitable (avoid the grief), the worse things get. Resolution is healthy. It’s okay to be overwhelmed by pain because a light waits at the end of the tunnel. This is literally manifest in the final scene, but first we should delve into the rest of the movie.
As with Attack the Block, Infested focuses on tight-knit communities of insulated survivors flirting with lawlessness in a values-based community. Kaleb’s character arc settles on the relationship with his sister and best friend/brother figure, Mathys — a kindred spirit and exotic animals enthusiast. Kaleb and Mathys are estranged after a misunderstanding which eventually resolves to satisfy both a core message of kinship and the importance of trust. In the beginning, we are led to assume the pair have deep enmity and unresolved resentments.
The meat of the movie sees Kaleb and a posse of select friends and family (including Mathys and sister Manon) struggling to survive the infestation as police isolate their apartment complex. The spider itself is a fairly standard monster, though a few original ideas make the movie unique. Each incarnation of the spider grows larger than the last, for example — an inspiration drawn directly from genre-definer Alien. The subtleties of Alien are lost amidst frantic survival horror, but this works within context. The pace is fast, frenetic and emotional where Alien is paced and tactical. And who can live up to Alien, honestly. Much is done to improve on Arachnaphobia and Eight Legged Freaks, particularly in the subtext. Neither movie had much to say beyond ‘yikes, spiders’. Infestation says a great deal more.
A highly recommended watch, Infestation will probably languish in the fringe elements of horror enthusiasm because… well… France. The movie deserves a great deal more attention and high praise for creating the kind of high-end production once an industrial mainstay of Hollywood horror.
