Megalomaniac (2022) - Movie Review

What do you get when a filmmaker decides to make a go at reviving the French Extreme movement from the early 2000’s?

A bleak, mesmerizing film that lacks the cohesion of the real movement, and ultimately crumbles under its own ambitions.

Megalomanic is a 2022 French Extreme thriller brought to us by writer / director Karim Ouelhaj. Don’t know the name? Don’t worry, I have 0 idea who this person is and I doubt I’ll ever see their name again. That’s not to say the film is a waste, far from it, there are some legitimately beautiful and horrific sequences, but it’s definitely not a well-assembled film.

The film focuses on Martha, a mentally disturbed custodian as she attempts to navigate the world within the confines of her father’s rules. Her father / kidnapper, was a prolific serial killer who murdered dozens of women without ever being caught. No one knows where he is or why he killed, except Martha and her brother Felix. Felix picked up his father’s mantle and has continued his work while Martha is forced to work in an abusive environment where she is mentally and sexually tormented. But, as her brother nears the end of their father’s work, and their ritual nears completion, Martha is given the power she’s always craved. Will the world be able to cope with the consequences of the ritual reaching completion or will they fall under the spell of a megalomanic?

It’s hard to sum this movie up.

Why?

Because it’s a fucking mess.

It’s edited like shit.

Pardon my French.

But really, the film could have been something special. It’s obvious the filmmaker attempted to mimic the greats of the movement in shoehorning a message into the brutality but they failed completely.

The beauty of French Extreme was that the films had a deep, underlying message. In order to get that message, you had to survive the viewing experience. It was an incredible balancing act of brutality and contemplation. They were transformative experiences. I’ve showed 2008’s Martyrs and 2007’s Inside to multiple groups and even the people who hated the films can’t help but bring them up in conversation. These films left a lasting emotional effect, because even though they are unflinching in their horror and violence, they have a basis in deeper truths.

This film lacks that depth. It lacks the soul of the French Extreme movement, and it’s honestly disrespectful to those great filmmakers that made up that much needed wave of reality in horror.

If your film needs to state it’s message in it’s IMDB blurb, than you failed at writing a good movie. You failed at trying to butt into a movement long since dead and gone.

And while the lead actors in the film are incredible and give powerful performances, the film is hampered by its direction and especially its editing.

The film is edited horribly. The film just cuts to black and random intervals, not artistic, not even cohesive. It’s as if this were made for television. Scenes just cut-off and go nowhere. Characters are added, convoluting the story, and muddying the already minuscule plot.

I wish I could recommend this film.

There are some beautiful cosmic horror set pieces, some incredible practical sfx, and sound design.

I feel bad for the lead actors, as Eline Schumacher and Benjamin Ramon are so authentic and believable. Ramon specifically has a magnetic quality. Anytime he enters a scene, it draws your eye and as most people in this movie are horrible. You almost root for the malicious serial killer to just murder them all. It’s a rare actor who can turn the most evil character into the movie’s protagonist.

If you need to punish yourself for some sin you’ve committed—You can find this movie on Shudder.

But, even has a diehard fan of the French Extreme, I advise avoiding this attempt at a revival.