Canadian director Éric Falardeau makes his film debut with a "body horror" for which he also wrote the screenplay and handled production. Thanatomorphose (Canada - 2012) is the French term for this disturbing work and indicates "the visible signs of a decaying organism caused by death." Thanatomorphose is just that, a slow and inexorable physical decline, a bodily death detailed and edited to the smallest details that elevate it to a shocking extreme film.
The title with its meaning, the story and the posters represent only the outline of a work that delves into the folds of decomposed flesh to reveal the backstories of the pains of the soul and love.
Thanatomorphose is structured in three acts (Despair, Another and Oneself) each of which represents a different stage of the character's physical and psychological deterioration.
The protagonist is Laura, a girl who leads a monotonous life without any enthusiasm and is being used as a sex object by her boyfriend. Suddenly one day she notices that something in her body is changing and, convinced that it is a temporary ailment, she tries to treat herself with only the medication she has at home. Unfortunately, as time passes, she finds no benefit and indeed her physical appearance begins to decline.
Outward death is only the most heinous reflection of the protagonist's inner death. Her apathy toward life and lack of stimulation make this slender woman a rotting shell of flesh. Laura does not need to ask for help because she accepts her condition, as she has always accepted everything that has come before her without ever reacting. Physical decay shows its signs that worsen day by day until her body begins to release bodily fluids, weaken and be food for worms.
Her own apartment becomes a prison for her body and then a tomb for her soul, reflecting the decay of her host who finds here only the sexual pleasure she has never experienced. In this murky location, where the buzzing of flies is a constant and for which one can almost smell putrefaction, not only is autoeroticism practiced but the deteriorated body is also considered an attractive and acceptable sexual object.
Existential and physical death is thus intertwined with the most horrific of paraphilias: necrophilia. The theme of love here becomes a kind of elevation, a relief from the general pain that the young woman is forced to endure, especially when, sunk on her bed soaked in blood and purulent exudate, she tries to react against rigor mortis.
The sense of oppressive death and deviant love that envelops this funereal and romantic work can be traced solely and only to that masterpiece of Nekromantik. Thanatomorphose almost equals Buttgereit's film as no other title has ever managed to do.
The suffocating sense one gets from watching this film, in addition to the subject matter, is also provided by the unique location and the excellent funereal music (by composer Rohan Kriwaczek) that permeates the entire film.
Very good Kayden Rose in the (not easy) role of the protagonist. She is joined by Émile Beaudry, Davyd Tousignant, Karine Picard, Eryka L. Cantieri, Roch-Denis Gagnon, Pat Lemaire, and Simon Laperrière. To be commended are the handcrafted special effects by David Scherer.
Thanatomorphose has won three awards for Best Film in international independent film festivals. Added to these awards are those received for Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Special Effects including the last one just given at the Horrorant Festival in Athens.
