Produced, written and directed by Cédric Dupuis, Like Every Morning (aka Comme tous les matins) is a 2018 French extreme horror short film. The film won the "Best Short Film" and "Best FX" categories at theOptical Theatre Film Festival 2018, an Italian film festival during which he was also awarded "Best Extreme" by Stephen Biro of Unearthed Films.
The title of this barely 18-minute short refers to the daily routine of the protagonist, a man nailed in his monotonous daily routine. His actions are accompanied by the pounding phrase "Comme tous les matins" (like every morning), words that punctuate moments repeated over time and which, having become almost mechanical, highlight a sharp condition of apathy that expands over weeks, months and years.
Cédric Dupuis is skillful in elaborating a perfect pessimistic context in which even a simple breakfast becomes one of the building blocks of a life considered "meaningless." In this heavy sphere of pessimism, the character (who is given no name) wanders around like an automaton letting his vices and perversions shine through. Internet grooming, paraphilias, and murder are among the clichés of his tedious life, as are the heinous deeds he is capable of.
Actor Olivier Bureau well plays a disturbed and sadistic character who is torn between erotic urges and homicidal instincts, making a state of strong unease veined with madness almost tangible with his performance.
As well as mirror on apathy, Like Every Morning thus becomes the setting for various forms of violence and inhumanity. The remarkable FX make real any blows inflicted on the victim (head taken with a hammer or smashed with an electric hacksaw, cuts with a mower and chainsaw) and highlight, with injuries and streams of blood, the most atrocious and extreme moments of this French short film (including wounds in the private parts).
Immersed in curated and somber photography (in keeping with its theme), Like Every Morning is a singular extreme short film that, besides becoming a symbol of pessimism and death, gives a surprising, unexpected ending.
The cast of the film includes Olivier Bureau and Mélanie Segura.
Equipe ATO and Atelier Trompe Oeil handled the special effects. Photography is by Fred Di Noto.
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