Four out of
Five stars
Running time:
90 mins
With a maniacal intensity and terrific performances from its two leads, this is a delightfully unhinged, increasingly unpredictable drama-slash-road movie that's easily one of the strangest films you'll see all year.
What's it all about?
Directed by Romain Gavras (son of political film-maker Costa), Our Day Will Come (Notre Jour Viendra, original title fans) stars Olivier Barthelemy (who looks a lot like a taller, gawkier Jesse Eisenberg) as bullied ginger teenager Remy, who storms out of his house after a violent argument with his mother and sister. He's spotted by jaded ginger (well, salt-and-ginger) psychiatrist Patrick (Vincent Cassel), who immediately takes Remy under his wing and the pair embark on a crazed, violent odyssey, with Patrick preaching solidarity and revolution for oppressed gingers everywhere.
After trying to pick up a young teenager in a broken-into supermarket, Remy has a vision of sorts when he sees a promotional poster for Ireland featuring ginger people and decides that they must make their way to their spiritual ginger homeland. Along the way their misadventures include: Remy discovering the truth about his online “girlfriend”; Patrick urging Remy to pick a fight with some Arabs in a bar; crashing a wedding (literally); and an extremely messed-up stay in a hotel resort.
The Good
Vincent Cassel is superb as Patrick, by turns disturbing (a scene involving a jacuzzi is particularly difficult to watch) and darkly funny. Intriguingly, the script gives no clues as to what might be fuelling his red-headed rage, so we're left to imagine his background for ourselves (obvious conclusion: years of ginger-based bullying).
Olivier Barthelemy is equally good as the repressed teen who gradually comes out of his shell and embraces his inner anger, eventually out-pacing even his mentor. In his case, the script toys with several possible motivations – we see his bullying at school, his unhappy home life and his doomed romance, but the film also suggests he might be struggling with his sexuality.
The Great
The film is delightfully unhinged from start to finish and Gavras orchestrates several memorable scenes, such as a sexy threesome involving Cassel and two half-naked British girls (including a trick with alcohol and a match that's sure to lead to some unfortunate copycat incidents) or a final sequence with Remy and Patrick staggering around a smoking wasteland looking like Vladimir and Estragon from Waiting for Godot.
Worth seeing?
Impressively directed and superbly acted, Our Day Will Come is a gloriously unhinged road movie that's easily one of the weirdest films you'll see all year. Highly recommended.