Dir/Wri: Manoel DuPont | drama France 77’
Avant/Apres is an offbeat gay buddy movie that will appeal to those who enjoy the absurdist situational humour of Quentin Dupieux: poking fun at accents, non-sequiturs and conversational disability.
The debut feature of French filmmaker Manoel DuPont, and screening in the Proxima strand at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival the film follows two social misfits, played by newcomers Jeremy Lamblot and Baptiste Leclere, who form an unlikely alliance after a chance meeting apparently thrown together due to their incipient baldness. The follicularly-challenged twosome then head off to Turkey in hope of a hair transplant.
In Istanbul they discover the process is not for the faint hearted: Hair transplants are painful on the pocket as well as on the wallet – to the tune of 5000 euros. But the surgeon and his team reassure them of a positive outcome.
On the operating table the plump one, Baptiste, is convinced he’s been reincarnated and rambles on about his former life. Jeremy, meanwhile, claims he finds his friend ‘charismatic’ for no apparent reason to the outsider. Their sexual chemistry is non-existent.
The film then morphs into a travelogue where the monosyllabic pair explore the markets and bars of the city and then lose each other, and – not unsurprisingly – appear not able to reconnect. But life drifts on and after a futile search, Jeremy consoles himself with a refreshing dip in the Bosporus in this quirky comedy that explores the human need for connection, belonging and companionship, however random. @MeredithTaylor
SPECIAL MENTION PROXIMA COMP | KARLOVY VARY FILM FESTIVAL 2025