Duo’s great work just what doctor ordered Predictable twist hinders star turns
Vivarium was one of the stranger films I’ve seen in recent years but it definitely left a lasting impression.
Nocebo isn’t quite as offbeat as that 2019 sci-fi-mystery, however writing and directing team Garret Shanley and Lorcan Finnegan once again prove they aren’t fans of conventional filmmaking.
Eva Green stars as Christine, a fashion designer suffering from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband Felix (Mark Strong).
Help seems to arrives in the form of kind Filipino carer Diana (Chai Fonacier) but it becomes clear there is more to her presence than originally meets the eye.
Where it was difficult to suss out what was happening in Vivarium, a fatal flaw with Nocebo is the predictability of its main twist.
Shanley and Finnegan do too much signposting ahead of the reveal which leaves it feeling limp instead of lethal.
Fortunately, the movie’s leading duo are on phenomenal form. Green has always been one for taking on challenging roles and to say Christine is put through an emotional and physical wringer would be a colossal understatement.
Fonacier embodies her character with such calm strangeness that even when she is being extremely nice you know there’s something more disquieting hidden beneath.
In comparison Strong is wasted as the dumbfounded husband whose main job is to look confused and voice his concern.
Director Finnegan tries for shock value with nasty visuals including a dog straight out of The Omen and terrifying tics but the scariest thing about his flick is the often sunken, haggard, sickly appearance of Green.
Rarely has someone looked so genuinely unwell on screen and it’s a shame her and Fonacier’s first-rate work is let down by the finale’s swerve into more traditional horror territory.
As a follow on from Vivarium, Nocebo disappoints but there’s enough inventiveness and ace acting to leave the film in pretty good health.
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