Nocebo

Ten Second Review: A little slow to start, but you’ll leave dragging your jaw along the ground.

When I read the words folk horror my interest is always peaked. Nocebo had one showing a day at nine o’clock at my cinema. It was on for three or four days before leaving cinemas so I wasn’t expecting to actually catch it. By happenstance I had plans with someone who had also noticed the same problem with the times it was on so impulsively we changed dinner plans and made it so we could both cross this off our list.

Christine (Eva Green) is a kids clothing designer. When tragedy strikes, she is not quite able to process it. She becomes forgetful, starts having breakdowns and collapsing. When a housekeeper (Chai Fonacier) arrives one day, she is glad for the help, but is this really the right way back to recovery?

I spent the first 20-30 minutes of this one a little off kilter. Something felt off and I couldn’t tell what it was. It seemed to jolt around, fast slow fast slow and a bit disjointed. On reflection this was less the bad film making I maybe initially thought it was and more like the active construction of an awkward atmosphere. By the end, the beginning felt intentional in a way I hadn’t felt at the time. 

Helmed unevenly by performances by Green, xxx and Mark Strong, all three carry great performances that build out a tense atmosphere. At certain points this aura moves into a creepy space, but it holds your attention through the quieter scenes too. Each scene is adding to the overall picture in a delicate way and building to a climax that left me literally jaw dropped.

It is not that you can’t see the film’s ending coming, it’s the delivery. The delicate messaging throughout building to a deserved ending that just ties it together perfectly. 

None of this speaks to the stylistic qualities of the film. It was not just narratively gripping, but visually too. It was refreshing to watch something that felt different to the eyes.

If you can catch it in cinemas then do, although I imagine many will struggle. If you can catch it streamed at a later date, I would still recommend. It felt special.