Jeremy Clapin Live Action Type Bender – The Hollywood Reporter

Megan Northam in “Meanwhile on Earth.”

Manuel Motier

Making the leap from animation to live action is no easy task, and only a select group of filmmakers have successfully accomplished it – Tim Burton being the first to come to mind.

The latest director to attempt this leap is Jeremy Clapin, who made his animation debut in 2019, I lost my bodyIt was an impressive mix of film noir, fantasy and coming-of-age angst, earning it two César Awards in France, as well as an Oscar nomination.

For his effort in the second year And at the same time on the ground (Necklace ce temps sur terre), Clappin ditched pencils and paper for a camera and a real crew. But although the medium is different, the narrative is similar, combining genre tropes — in this case, science fiction — with psychodrama in its story of a young woman trying to cope with the loss of her older brother, an astronaut who disappeared. To outer space.

Technically, it’s a strong B-movie, beautifully shot by Belgian DB Ruprecht Heffert (Boys are bad for life(And is carried by a strong performance from newcomer Megan Northam)Greek salad). But something works less well this time around: the genre elements aren’t always convincing and the emotional impact doesn’t resonate in the same way.

It can be difficult to make viewers believe in a fantasy when it comes to human actors and, when needed, some makeup and visual effects. There are, in fact, a few animated sequences as well, which Clapin stages in the old ’80s animation style, using a black-and-white and boxy TV format. Interestingly, these scenes add a level of intensity that the film often lacks, carrying us away rather than pinning us to the ground.

The film follows Elsa (Northam), an aspiring graphic novelist whose life is turned upside down when her brother Frank gets lost in space during an international mission. All that remains of him is an honorary statue outside the wooded French town of Elsa, where she works a day job at the same nursing home as her mother (Catherine Salle).

Elsa soon begins to hear sounds coming from outside, including Frank’s voice. She is still grieving his loss and imagines it is all in her head. But then an unseen alien life form appears, equipping her with what looks like an extraterrestrial earpiece — a glowing, sticky object that looks like a glob of magic spit — so she can receive instructions that might, perhaps, help bring her brother back from Earth. Universe.

Two dogs keep us guessing as to whether Elsa is making the whole thing up out of her grief — this girl could really use a psychiatrist — or she’s actually having a close encounter of the third kind. This mystery makes it difficult to stick to her when she begins luring people from the city, including a pair of lumberjacks and several patients from the nursing home, into a nearby forest so they can be kidnapped by alien forces. The plot seems too convoluted to be believable, and the film’s efforts to depict French rural life never go beyond routine.

And at the same time on the ground The genre falls into a category known as the “elevated genre”, where tropes from thrillers, science fiction, and horror films are inserted into more serious stories rather than the B-movie genre in which they are typically used. It’s a false label, because all good films are serious and have something to say, starting with the first one Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1956, which was an obvious inspiration for Klapin’s film and which, when originally released, channeled the fear of Americans during McCarthyism and the Cold War.

The ambitions here are more intimate, focusing on Elsa’s inability to get over Frank’s disappearance, and using genre to convey this in a creepy and otherworldly way. If the film oscillates precariously between sci-fi and psychology, it nonetheless underscores Klapin’s visual talents, which are supported by dreamy music from Dan Levy, who also scored I lost my body. In his best moments, And at the same time on the ground It takes us beyond our desolate everyday lives to a place we can actually dream about – and also witness on screen.