Nocturama

Even before its premiere, NOCTURAMA caused quite a stir in the media for not being invited to Cannes, allegedly because of its controversial subject matter. Indeed, it could not be any more delicate: The film tells the story of a group of young people who commit a series of attacks in Paris, and then hole up in a department story for the night. However, that is the full extent of any parallels to current events. Writer and director Bertrand Bonello (SAINT LAURENT) does not try to deliver a realistic depiction of, say, Islamist terror – but rather a portrait of alienated youth in a hyper-commercialized society that drifts off more and more into a nightmarish dreamscape. Mashing up GLAMORAMA by Bret Easton Ellis and Gus Van Sant's ELEPHANT with somnambulistic ease, this film subverts expectations with great cinematic elegance. It is what will make it linger in memory for a long time.