Review: ‘Vinyan’

Fabrize Du Welz’s new drama/horror/thriller, ‘Vinyan,’ is an intelligent and surreal look at human obsession, and the extremes one is willing to go to find someone they have loved and lost. Â  It probably falls more in to the drama category than anything. Â  The real horror doesn’t kick in until the film’s final act, but leading up to those latter moments, you just know this story is going to get much worse before it gets any better.

Rufus Sewell and Emmanuelle Beart play Paul and Janet Belhmer, a couple who lost their young son in the Southeast Asia tsunami. Â  Months later, Janet believes she sees her missing son in a video about orphans in Burma. Â  Her obsession takes hold, and she convinces her husband to take her to Burma in the hopes of finding their son.

The dangers this couple runs into in their quest to and through Burma range from the real (pirates) to the absolutely surreal (murderous children), and Du Welz’s usage of lighting and camera helps to take us on this descention. Â  Emmanuelle appears to be growing more and more insane as the journey goes on, and the crazier she gets, the less realism Du Welz seems to be injecting into his imagery. Â  

Without giving anything away, I will say the final moments of the film are very intense and very disturbing, and the filmmakers do a lot to create the sense of a good horror film without having to kill off throwaway cast members left and right. Â  This is a cerebral film, one that you probably don’t have to understand fully in order to enjoy. Â  I know I didn’t get everything on the first watch. Â  But, I don’t mind saying Du Welz captures that sense of surrealism in ‘Vinyan’ better than most filmmakers whose names aren’t David Lynch.

The marketing on ‘Vinyan’ is somewhat misleading. Â  Don’t go into this film expecting a high-intensity, horrific, jungle movie. Â  The film has a slow burn, and some of the earlier moments do seem to drag a bit. Â  

A scene near the very beginning that takes us through the city streets of Bangkok could have been cut down greatly. Â  I know what Du Welz was trying to do. Â  Even in the city, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Â  Imagine what kind of trouble you can get yourself into deep in the jungles. Â  It is a message that does not go unnoticed, but it didn’t need that level of hammering in to the point across.

The acting in ‘Vinyan’ is superb. Â  Much of it is Sewell and Beart, who both bring everything they have to their respective parts. Â  Beart plays crazy with the best of them, and she really makes you feel this woman’s frustration and this sense that she is slowly losing more than just her son. Â  Sewell plays hard well. Â  The scenes where Paul is trying to convince Janet that their son is, indeed, dead are more convincing than others, but he pulls it all off decently.

A couple of supporting performances are well worth mentioning. Â  Julie Dreyfus turns up slightly, but her performance as the woman behind the video is somewhat creepy, even if that wasn’t the intention. Â  Petch Osathanugrah as the pirate who takes Paul and Janet on their journey is superb, and it’s amazing to see that he only has one credit to his name. Â  Much like Michael Emerson in “Lost,” you really aren’t sure if this guy is evil or if he is actually trying to help this couple, and Osathanugrah plays the part precisely.

Pacing issues aside, ‘Vinyan’ is a well-told story and a well-crafted film. Â  It’s the type of thriller that takes its audience into the heart of its locales (the film was shot entirely in Thailand) and shows them the dangers of the unknown. Â  It really is a tale of “Be careful what you wish for…” told with the catalyst of something no one could pass up. Â  No one could give up hope of finding their lost child, and Du Welz uses that notion to drive his characters deeper and deeper into madness and, ultimately, worse. Â  ‘Vinyan’ is an intensely psychological thriller for anyone willing to work their way through the more meandering parts.

Overall: 4 stars out of 5