The Soul Eater (2024) Review

When two bodies are discovered at a bloody crime scene in the quiet mountain village of Roquenoir, two very different cops are dispatched to investigate. Elizabeth Guardiano (Virginie Ledoyen) is a senior detective who is focused on what appears to be a frenzied, violent murder and Franck de Rolen (Paul Harny) is a Captain of the Gendarmerie whose interest is in a string of missing children, the latest of whom is Evan Vasseur, the son of the man and woman found dead.

As Guardiano and de Rolen delve into the case, it appears as though everyone in Roquenoir may have something to hide, including the investigators. To complicate matters further, a local legend concerning a creature hangs over the area. Could the crimes be linked to the world of the supernatural?

The directing team of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo are the team behind the oft-discussed Inside (À l’intérieur) and there’s an argument to be made that their ferocious debut has cast an ominous shadow over their subsequent output despite none of it being a lazy retread. There’s no doubt that this is a handsomely mounted, lovingly shot policier which leans into the current vogue for darker procedurals and Maury/Bustillo fans will be pleased to learn that there’s no shying away from some rather bloody violence. And yet, much of it doesn’t work as it should.

The main issue here is the plotting, which introduces a cast of villagers who are unhelpful, suspicious, or both. Guardiano is recovering from a recent tragedy which would make it unlikely for her to be on this particular case and de Rolen’s actions are questioned so infrequently that it would seem anyone would be welcomed in to have a crack at this detective lark. Does he have a secret? Of course he does. Can you guess what it is? Of course you can.

There’s a passing reference to a recent plane crash which is clearly going to play into the proceedings at some point and, when it does, it ushers in a ridiculous story strand which plays fast and loose with the idea of how chemical reactions actually work, leading to a sequence which should be disturbing but is unfortunately hilarious and features an attack with a stool that WWE fans will appreciate. All this movie needed after that was a Scooby Doo-style unmasking of the criminal mastermind and…that’s exactly what you get.

High farce is sometimes the way to go when the material is so close to parody, but so much of The Soul Eater is concerned with the terrorisation and abuse of children that any humour deployed – intentional or otherwise – comes across as being in astonishingly poor taste, especially as the early scenes with de Rolen point up his sensitivity and his unrelenting quest for justice on behalf of those whom society should be protecting.

It’s to both Ledoyen and Harny’s credit that they both make the film watchable, elevating the ridiculous dialogue to something approaching believability. Guardiano is initially a fascinating character but soon descends into the usual cliché-ridden, tough female cop whose propensity for shooting folks is perhaps not in the handbook for someone of her rank. However, Ledoyen plays it all admirably straight and rises above the general level of daftness.

The film sporadically finds its feet in the sequences of suspense and gore. Maury and Bustillo are dab hands at the “creeping around followed by nasty violence” lark and the bursts of grue certainly enliven the often monotonous mystery, with some exhilarating axe mayhem and the horrid aftermath of a face-on collision with one of the most hideous-looking saw blades you’ve ever seen. A nicely staged chase also makes the viewer hanker for more action and less angst.

Ultimately, The Soul Eater is too grim to be genuinely ridiculous, and too ridiculous to be genuinely grim. Horror fans may find it all too much of a plod, thriller fans may find it just too icky and as for that final twist? Zut alors!

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