# fear and terror / demon / devil / Satan / 666 / possession / Latin / horror / psychiatry / hypnosis / cinema exclusive / Polish premiere
MASTEMAH
horror / France, Belgium / 2022 / 1h 40min
It’s a bit boring in heaven, right?
Louise is a young psychiatrist. She’s currently getting her life back together after a traumatic experience. After a hypnosis session conducted by her, a patient jumped out of a window. She’s trying to be tough and professional, to move on with her life. So she moves to a small town, where she starts an internship in the local psychiatric hospital. She builds relationships with the staff and new patients, e.g. with a bitter boy, Elias, who was paralyzed after an accident. She often overshares with her patients. When Elias asks her if he will go to heaven or hell, Louise answers: “It’s a bit boring in heaven, right?”
One day, Theo, a huge guy, tormented by nightmares, pays a surprise visit to Louise. He demands hypnosis, and the woman – partly out of fear and partly out of curiosity – agrees to hold sessions with him. Shortly after, Louise’s patients start dying, and she’s not sure what’s a nightmare and what’s real anymore. Is it possible that she crossed paths with the devil himself?
“Mastemah” is a heavy, anxiety-inducing, and beautifully filmed fiction debut of Didier D. Daarwin. Satanist themes take a second seat. What’s happening inside Louise’s head is the most important thing. She gets dragged into Theo’s nightmares, while simultaneously fighting with pain and guilt herself. The way she slowly loses her mind is shown here masterfully, and everything that seems unclear starts to make perfect sense in a strong finale. It’s a stylish horror about nightmares, that itself induces nightmares. The brunt of the story and keeping the viewer uncertain is up to the fantastic Camille Razat – here playing the role of Louise – the most recognizable from her role in “Emily in Paris.” Here, Razat plays a role of a person that’s tired, frustrated, and more scared with every minute, despite her angelic looks. Present in almost every scene in the film – she’s the guide for the viewer through the unfolding madness. The director of photography, Emmanuel Bernard, has his fiction debut in “Mastemah” as well. He managed to create a simultaneously claustrophobic and endless world around Louise. Beautiful and raw shots of interiors intertwine with landscapes that make you feel hollow and alone.
director: Didier D. Daarwin scenario: Thierry Aflalou, Didier D. Daarwin,m Johanne Rigoulot cast: Camille Razat, Olivier Barthelemy, Feodor Atkine, Bruno Debrandt DoP: Emmanuel Bernard Editing: music: Stanislav Makovsky i Yvi Slan language: French subtitles: Polish
WORLD PREMIERE: FrightFest 2022 age restrictions: 16+
