[Fantasia 2023] VINCENT MUST DIE -- A Morbidly Funny, Somewhat Aimless Dark Comedy

Review by Sean Boelman

In 2021, The Sadness was one of the most talked about genre films of the year with its relentless and seemingly endless barrage of violence. This year’s Vincent Must Die, directed by Stéphan Castang, has a similar premise but takes a more comedic (and slightly tamer) approach, which makes it a great fit for the genre fest circuit.

The movie follows a man who chooses to live a life on the lam when he finds himself suddenly being physically attacked by everyone around him for no apparent reason. It’s the type of high-concept horror-comedy where the film’s success lives or dies by how much the viewer buys into the premise and world.

As one would expect, there are some moments of very shocking violence. For most of the first two thirds of the movie, it comes in relatively short — but extremely brutal — bursts. However, over the course of the film, it becomes more frequent and graphic in its carnage, and by the end, it’s probably not for the squeamish.

That being said, although the movie is often upsetting and disturbing in its depictions of violence, there’s also a (pitch black) sense of humor about it. Viewers will understandably let out some nervous laughter after seeing a man getting the crap beaten out of him by an intern he disrespected in the workplace. These moments of dark comedy do wonders for the pacing and making the film more palatable.

One of the more surprising things about Vincent Must Die is how efficient it is with its character development. The easy way out would have been to make the eponymous protagonist one extreme or the other — a “nice guy” who doesn’t deserve it at all, or a horrible person we want to see suffer. Mathieu Naert’s script gives us someone in-between, where we often understand why people would be frustrated with him, but still root for him to overcome.

Karim Leklou’s performance in the leading role is perfect. It’s a very reactionary performance, where much of the emotion he shows is either fear or bewilderment. Vimala Pons also gives a very strong turn, bringing a lot of emotional nuance to a character that is a tad underdeveloped and Manic Pixie-esque.

The only real shortcoming of the movie is that it is ultimately unclear what Naert wants to say with this story. At a certain point, it begins to feel as if everything is somewhat random — and maybe that’s what it’s trying to say. There is a lot of senseless violence in the real world, and if that’s what the film wants viewers to take away, it succeeded.

Vincent Must Die is a very funny and satisfying horror-comedy, even if it doesn’t have as strong of a grasp on its messaging as it would have needed to earn itself true cult classic status. Still, it’s an impressive exercise in genre filmmaking, and a strong debut for Stéphan Castang.

Vincent Must Die screened at the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival, which runs from July 20 to August 9.

​Rating: 4/5