The 9th Life of Louis Drax
Cert: 15A. Opens Sept 2
French director Alexandre Aja’s horror pedigree is evident from early on in this strange and mostly interesting mystery/ thriller based on Liz Jensen’s 2006 bestseller and adapted by Jensen and Max Minghella for the screen. Stylised, like a lovechild of Hitchcock, Wes Anderson and M Night Shyamalan, it is unfeasible in details rather than plot but very watchable if not memorable.
Louis Drax (Aiden Longworth) is a clever, unusual and accidentprone boy who, on his ninth birthday, has his worst accident yet. His father (Aaron Paul) goes missing and his devoted mother Natalie (Sarah Gadon) is left devastated. Celebrated TED Talk-giving neurosurgeon Allan Pascal (Jamie Dornan) is convinced all coma patients have more going on than it appears and he tries to “coax” them out of their silence. He begins to feel a very close (and never explained) connection to Louis and, much more morally dubiously, to his mother. Natalie is a beauty in the Hitchcockian style, right down to the 1950s clothes and Grace Kelly hair (and violin-based soundtrack) she is also perhaps not quite as fragile as she looks.
The story emerges through flashbacks, stories Louis narrates, stories he tells his therapist Dr Perez (Oliver Platt), and through his imagination as it runs through his comatose mind. At times it feels like it will become a horror but it unravels into reality, characters unfolding in reverse and expectations upset. Although I did suspect early on what the ending might be, the film did hold my attention. It feels and looks like some kind of fable about beauty and goodness.
Unusual in that it is a five-hander, it has some very good performances; Paul feels very solid, Gadon is subtle but strong, and young Longworth does a good role justice. It’s an unusual but accessible film. HHH AINE O’CONNOR