Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY [Fantastic Fest - Austin, Texas]
"The Birthday Party" registers as a home invasion thriller where past issues intrude on present day. Nora (played by Agassi Herzi) is a mom just trying to live her life. It seems the film at the beginning does try a misdirect when it seems her husband Thomas (Bastien Bouillon) is getting in over his head with money and keeping up with the bills. He is trying to provide for his family though Nora tells him not to worry so much. Her little girl posts a dancing video of the three of them seemingly happy. This ends up being the catalyst since Nora is not what she seems. On the periphery is their neighbor who lives on their land: Cristina (Monica Bellucci) who might be Thomas’s mother but it is never made quite clear. She is an artist and, as always with Bellucci, there is a lot going on below the surface. An unwanted caller comes and Cristina knows something is off but the reality is more dynamic than seen.
Franck (Benoit Nagnimel) knows who Nora really is but picks a weird time to show up. He brings along his two sons but both have certain proclivities that undo the evening. One has psychopathic tendencies but the way that Bellucci plays the scenes with him, especially painting white streaks on a dark canvas is so beautifully realized. It is the pinnacle of her scenes which starkly pushes the rest of the film into grim territory. One dinner scene when the other son tries to diffuse with some levity (whether or not with dark intentions) simply goes wrong. But again the impact is pretty brutal but effective. The culmination requires a certain demasking but uses an interesting motif to bring it to a final point, despite the carnage. "The Birthday Party" is a fairly compacted thriller with flairs throughout and great character beats but is uplifted with arpeggio-like flourishes by Monica Bellucci through her other actors maintain the tone and pace well to the very end. 85%/B
By Tim Wassberg
