Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE VISITOR FROM THE FUTURE [Fantastic Fest 2022 - Austin,Texas]
Finding a balance between comedy and stakes in a story of conscience can be tricky but it is about making the progression smart enough without losing the trajectory of the audience. With "The Visitor From The Future", the story works not because of the main storyline in a way but because of the notion of sacrifice between two souls passing in the night. The great thing in play in actually an unexplored but linked attraction between Alice (Enya Baroux) and Raph (Raphaël Descraques -- who is also the directors brother). There is a sense of impending doom in their life but also a reason and hope for living even if there is a nihilistic quality about it. A scene driving through a futuristic wasteland in the back of the van makes this very clear
The humor is based off of the context that no one really understands the risk and are flying by the seat of their pants. But with Alice and Raph, the viewer gets the sense that they understand without needing to understand which makes where the film ends up much more effecting than if it was just a standard time travel movie. Like "Palm Springs", it is about the future you can't perceive and that is the most interesting and perhaps devastating. The side story about making a corporate maven care about people when he can't connect with his own daughter is textured but not as effective as it should be beyond just the plot ploy element of it. When the film shines is when it goes into the infrastructure of the time travel and how it can be played for physical and emotional comedy. Raph gets some of the best elements in one scene (and considering the budget) it is obviously very well done. The world is built without having for overdo it much like in a way that "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" did back in the day. That film had more going for it in certain ways but it is definitely a different monster than "Visitor".
The main time travel character (Florent Dorin) almost has a Doctor Who quality to him, and the sort of prologue which creates the basis for the thrust of the film sets the tone in terms of its eccentric nature. But Alice and Raph (as well as some bumbling but violent antics of certain Time Patrol cops who push the story forward) really set the bar. There is of course so much more possibility going forward as the web series obviously led to the making of the feature for this. The interesting thing which the director mentioned at the Q&A as did Baroux is that with an American audience, who perhaps doesn't know the web series, it works perfectly well on its own since the characters are so flushed out. But there is also not a need to explain every single piece of exposition or lore. This allows the film to exist in its own world letting the audience draw their own effective conclusions like with this review. B+
By Tim Wassberg
