Dir: Cyprien Vial | Cast: Marina Fois, Mathieu Demy, Theo Christine | France | 2025 85′
Magma is more of a low-key travelogue on Guadeloupe than a tense eco thriller that sees a scientist called in to monitor the crisis when a volcano threatens to erupt, putting the fear of God into locals and the town’s mayor (a welcome appearance from Matthieu Demy).
Fois is Katia Reiter, a vulcanologist who holds the fate of the island in her hands when tasked with deeming whether to evacuate people from their homes or simply monitor events as they unfold, with her assistant Aime (Christine).
Strutting about the island like a doom-bird, she’s an assertive and humourless character whose po-faced expression occasionally cracks into a patronising smile when dealing the locals. Apart from arguing with ‘le prefet’, she scans computer screens (while spewing out meaningless technical data) and glowers at the island’s horizon waiting for something to happen.
The only real eruption is a low-key demo caused by some disgruntled locals in a limp backstory that seems to want to explore social and racial tensions on the island but never really gets off the ground. A shame, because this would have given the film some much needed ballast aside from the chasing around aimlessly. Magma is certainly worth a watch for a rough impression of this misty French island in the Caribbean, evocatively captured by DoPJacques Girault. @MeredithTaylor
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