Nocturama is written and directed by Bertrand Bonello and tells the story of a group of young adults who plan and carry out a series of bombing attacks across Paris. The film follows the adolescent radicals as they take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall overnight. The film sparked controversy in 2016 as it was released no less than a year after the very real Paris attacks in 2015. While the story told is fictional and many movies that display terrorism do it in a bastardized way, Nocturama uses this plot point tastefully and is interwoven into the main themes of the story even if they are not made absolutely clear.
On the surface, Nocturama can come across like an insensitive film that doesn't have a lot to say, with minimal dialogue and characters sort of manoeuvring about one area for an extended period of time, but that is part of the movies beauty. It is certainly not a film for everybody however if you're willing to go into it with an open mind and reflect on decisions made by the characters and how they might translate to the real world the film can truly become an impactful experience. While the act of terrorism is a horrifying decision and the story doesn't establish a clear motive for the characters carrying out such a heavy choice, Nocturama unveils this subtly during its over two-hour runtime. From the way some characters respond initially to the crime they just committed to their actions taken during the extended overnight stay at a mall; some are remorseful and think they have broken brains while others it just comes across as an everyday event, nothing they did was out of the ordinary. This characterization, while not spelled out, is precise and almost requires the viewer to place themselves in that character's shoes and really try to figure what they are exactly feeling. Bonello is a master at elegantly portraying these subtleties that contribute to the larger theme.
Nocturama is a film that may seem like it doesn't have a lot going on but the filmmaker tasked himself with managing several characters in one space and trying to give each enough screen time to tell their story. Even though at times I found there to be one too many characters, I thought Bonello mostly pulled this off. Likewise for a film of this runtime to take place in practically one setting and for it to be as entertaining as it was, is an accomplishment of itself - Nocturama not only sucked me in but was also a great lesson in filmmaking on how to make a self-contained film work. While the film does slow down once the characters arrive at the mall and there are moments that were a little monotonous to get through, Nocturama had me on the edge of my seat the entire time waiting for something to go wrong. Right from the beginning to the very end, I was incredibly tense and the film does a wonderful job at maintaining this sense of uncomfortableness.
As I mentioned earlier Nocturama is not for everyone and I am not expecting others to feel as positive about it as I did, but if you are interested in the film just know that its themes are not made clear and it mostly serves as a movie that requires you to think. While not everything about the film works I do appreciate the risk Bonello took with telling his story and I feel he achieved what he set out to do. Nocturama is a film that's going to stick with me for a long while and is one of 2016's best, and for that reason, I am giving Nocturama an 8/10.
