The Gravity, a French sci-fi crime thriller, is one of those captivating and unnerving thrillers that leaves you with no choice but to pay attention. The movie has an eerie atmosphere created by its remarkable cinematography and the film’s anxiety-inducing score which lead the audiences into an anticipation of an impending menace. However, What keeps it going are the characters, with their arcs giving the story life. Writers Cédric Ido, Melisa Godet and Jeanne Apkeman have penned a finely crafted screenplay that introduces us to multidimensional central characters who we instantly care about.
However, where The Gravity falls flat is its themes and secondary relationships. The film does touch on some interesting ideas like brotherhood, loyalty and poverty as it seeks to say something meaningful about these things but never quite develops them enough to make them work as they should have been made. Similarly while the three main protagonists’ characterizations are among the best aspects of the film, there are secondary ones and their relationship with these leads is so thin in substance that it makes for an unevenly picture whose potential has not been fully exploited.
The debut of “The Gravity” took place at TIFF 2023; and throughout this time there was Daniel (Max Gomis), a professional sprinter returning from his career break for a comeback; Joshua (Steve Tientcheu), Daniel’s wheelchair-bound drug-dealer brother. In trying to bring down what he believes is a gang selling a new prosthetic drug returning from prison old friend Christophe (Jean-Baptiste Anoumon) stirs up trouble with young group operating his Parisian neighborhood in . As he delves deeper into rival gang’s mysterious new drug Christophe soon discovers dark motives behind it which put his life at risk along with anyone else around him.
The Gravity cannot just be defined by one genre only. Writer/director Cédric Ido creates effortlessly appealing movies that draw from various styles as well as sources. Throughout the film, there are hints of sci-fi, thriller, crime, action and horror.
The Gravity’s story takes place in our solar system when the planets realign around Earth’s orbit which is supposed to have devastating impacts – it happens this way in the secondary plot. The movie does indeed incorporate planet-ending science fiction elements but it is still rooted in crime and thriller genres that keep it grounded and connected to its characters.
As previously mentioned, the film’s three main protagonists are fascinating. Daniel fears moving on despite his dreams of leaving a neighborhood he has spent his entire life in. Joshua has an issue with dealing on his own without constant support from Daniel. Christophe has an ego problem and wants revenge against these young drug dealers who stole his turf and customers. Seeing each character battle their own demons leads to satisfying arcs, sometimes brought to life in visually clever if over-the-top ways (such as Daniel sprinting from an earthquake away from his neighborhood in a manifestation of his internal conflict over moving on).
With Christophe’s arc, unlike Daniel and Joshua’s arcs which are more complex, the audience is still thrilled by his pursuit of the gang of drug dealers. In the project area, he walks constantly to spot signs and draw them in great detail. And just for your information, he asks a former buyer to help him find his way into some of these leaders who lead this gang. However, while Christophe’s story is very funny and does not have much drama as compared to Daniel and Joshua, it also serves as a comic relief that loosens the tension inherent in both films.
The three actors give phenomenal performances as their characters. Max Groomis manages to capture a great deal of complexity in his performance as Daniel through its rawness. Steve Tientcheu acts as if his character is invincible even though it’s all an act since he acts with no emotions on his face except for one moment when there was a little tear streaming down from his eye; Joshua can be seemingly grumpy sometimes but always judging others’ actions openly which meanwhile allows us see him suffering inside out via subtle expressions acted by Tientcheu. But without exaggeration Jean-Baptiste Anoumon was definitely the most amusing person playing Christophe role here who also made sure that this character came across as intelligent though he was obviously pained at times; because funnily enough did you know that there were parts where people might laugh aloud?
Fully embracing all genres hinted at before in the film, Gravity’s last scene leaves nothing to imagination. This comes after 14-year-old drug lords kidnapped Daniel, Joshua and Christoph for sacrifice purposes leading to epic fighting scenes which go beyond expectations. Fortunately, Joshua has modified his wheelchair such that it can perform various functions of killing whereby these devices created an unbelievable visual effect during one particular scene involving Maxime turning into bloodshed machine right there in front viewers’ eyes while battling against those 14-year-old kids. Then there is Daniel’s wheelchair also fitted with weapons to help him deal with those 14-year old captors in a brutally graphic way. And remember all this is happening while the planets are realigning around Earth’s orbit, causing an earthquake of unprecedented magnitude.
The viewers will leave the theatre confused, happy and very satisfied with the unpredictability of its conclusion. Combining bits of science fiction, action and even a bit of horror too, Gravity’s last act is a captivating way to conclude this otherwise realistic movie. Brutal action sequences include one long take in which Daniel wipes out an entire hallway packed full of fourteen years old cultists. Also, The Gravity’s final act has many stakes as there is an imminent quake and the sheer number of zealots escalates making it both thrilling and tension filled just before this insane climax…It’s worth seeing.
Nonetheless, the film falters on not fully utilizing its themes as it should have done. Fraternity, home, poverty or trustworthiness are some of the issues that The Gravity tries to touch but Cédric Ido never goes far enough into them to make them count. On paper these ideas work; however they get lost among countless histrionics in the movie ending up becoming meaningless in relation to each other.
In the same vein, the additional characters and associations except for one of Christophe’s former customers are not developed. However, Daniel’s girlfriend’s relationship with him stands out among them. The Gravity never explores this aspect of their lives; hence, she could as well be his roommate. Hence, when we finally get to a point that should have created a turning point in the movie where Daniel is asked by his girlfriend to accompany her to Canada, audiences do not feel any kind of passion or conflict. If only The Gravity had added another ten minutes or so to its 85-minute running time, it would have been possible to know more about their relationship and other characters including creating a comprehensive film at least on the part of characterizations.
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