Jessica Forever

Last updated
Jessica Forever
Jessica forever xlg.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Caroline Poggi
Jonathan Vinel
Written byCaroline Poggi
Jonathan Vinel
Produced byEmmanuel Chaumet
Starring
Narrated bySarah-Megan Allouch
CinematographyMarine Atlan
Edited byVincent Tricon
Music byUlysse Klotz
Release date
  • September 16, 2018 (2018-09-16)(TIFF)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

Jessica Forever is a 2018 French fantasy sci-fi drama film written and directed by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel. The film premiered as the closing film of the Platform Prize section of the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. [1] [2] It also showed in the Panorama section of the 69th Berlin International Film Festival in 2019. [3]

Contents

Plot

As a leader of a group of lost boys, Jessica, a loving and compassionate person, needs to lead them to a place where peace and harmony exists. Her goal is to create a world where Julien, Kevin, Lucas, Michael and Raiden, can live in peace together, and forever.

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 54% based on reviews from 13 critics, with an average rating of 5/10. [4]

Pat Mullen of POV praised the lead actress, writing "Jessica Forever features a heroic woman of the Lara Croft variety leading a group of lost boys through a world in which orphans are hunted, but the film proves too sparse and thinly conceived for its ambiguously open premise to be remotely intriguing or effective". [5]

Jonathan Romney of Film Comment wrote that "Jessica Forever isn't primarily about effects or action - it's largely about feelings, and surprisingly delicate feelings at that". [6]

According to Rafael Motamayor of Bloody Disgusting , "[the film] starts up with a promising premise that it abandons after 5 minutes in favor of following the most boring group of characters in recent memory". [7]

Lena Wilson of The Playlist gave the film a "D" rating, explaining her reasoning by writing that "Jessica Forever has a few delightfully experimental moments – birthday cake letters and self-immolation make for some stunning visuals – but it quickly dovetails into nonsense". [8] She also added that "[t]here are movies, like I Think We're Alone Now and Annihilation " that according to her "use sci-fi strangeness to enhance their dramatic potential and further captivate the audience". [8]

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Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel are a French filmmaking duo, whose debut feature film Jessica Forever premiered in 2018.

References

  1. Milligan, Kaitlin (8 August 2018). "World Premiere of JESSICA FOREVER to Close TIFF's 2018 Platform Programme". Broadway World. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  2. "Jessica Forever". Toronto International Film Festival . Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  3. "Jessica Forever". Berlin International Film Festival . Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  4. "Jessica Forever (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  5. Mullen, Pat (17 September 2018). "'Destroyer' Dominated TIFF's Platform Competition, But Where Were the Docs?". POV .
  6. Romney, Jonathan (24 January 2018). "Film of the Week: Jessica Forever". Film Comment .
  7. Motamayor, Rafael (16 September 2018). "[TIFF Review] 'Jessica Forever' Aims High But Falls Flat". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  8. 1 2 Wilson, Lena (15 September 2018). "'Jessica Forever': Sci-Fi Drama Drones On With No Plot In Sight [TIFF Review]". The Playlist. Retrieved 15 August 2021.