Chrysalis

When it comes to science fiction, France isn't always the first name that springs to mind and yet our Gallic neighbours have been pioneers of the genre. In the literary world Jules Verne's imagination was at the forefront of speculative science writing, and one of the earliest movies made was Georges Méliès' sci-fi fantasy A TRIP TO THE MOON (1903). Gaumont, the oldest, and still running, film company in the world is also French and have produced some of the biggest French export genre films over the last couple of decades, usually with Luc Besson at the helm. Of course Besson is not the only one to have left his mark on the genre world. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro have both, in partnership and individually, created some of the world's most original and visually arresting sci-fi/fantasy films. And although France is principally known for its auteurs and their downbeat, monochromatic output but as multihyphenate actress/filmmaker Julie Delpy says, "I know it has a reputation for making good films but there's so much crap. The French films that come out here are all great films, but 90% of the films coming out of France are unwatchable." Thankfully the sci-fi films that come out of France are either passing through the crap filter, or there are just good quality genre movies being made there. At this year's SCI-FI-LONDON Festival there were four French films , all good and quite different. One of them, CHRYSALIS, produced by the aforementioned Gaumont, is now available on DVD through Momentum Pictures.

Being future-set, it is all a bit bleak and almost monochromatic in its dystopian appearance, in the tradition of BLADE RUNNER, MINORITY REPORT, TOTAL RECALL and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and not dissimilar in many respects to the 2006 French animation RENAISSANCE.

The movie certainly begins with a bang as high-tech holographic surgeon Professor Brugen (Marthe Keller) and her daughter Manon (Melanie Thierry) are driving home one evening when their car is hit by a truck, leaving Manon critically injured.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, hard-boiled cop David Hoffman (Albert Dupontel) and his partner and lover, Sarah (Smadi Wolfman), are engaged in a subterranean pitched gun battle with an escaped criminal, a Bulgarian black marketeer named Dimitri Nicolov (Alain Figlarz). The conflict results in a tense Mexican standoff, during which Nicolov brutally murders Sarah before escaping.

Hoffman, with his new partner, rookie officer Marie Becker (Marie Guillard), goes on a vigilante quest to track down Nicolov. Their investigation into Nicolov's current whereabouts uncovers a human trafficking ring and a succession of victims, both dead and alive, all bearing similarly scarred eyelids. The trail leads them to Brugen's clinic, where the professor is employing her advanced medical techniques and recovered memory therapies in the recuperative treatment of her injured daughter.

Although not as convoluted as some PK Dick stories, which are obviously an influence on writer-director Julien Leclercq, you still need to pay attention to what is going on – and read the subtitles at the same time. And there is plenty of action too, with some great close combat fight sequences, like those in the Bourne movies. (Alain Figlarz, who plays Nicolov, was stunt co-ordinator on THE BOURNE IDENTITY.)

With CHRYSALIS, and DANTE 01 and EDEN LOG to come, France is definitely leaving an indelible mark on the current world of intelligent sci-fi movies.

CHRYSALIS is out on June 9 from Momentum Pictures and is available from major retailers including Amazon and Play.

Watch the trailer here

Review: Chris Patmore