Writer and Director 
Quentin Dupieux

Starring
Jean Dujardin and Adèle Haenel

Are you someone who believes they’ve made some poor decisions in their life?
If so, I guarantee those decisions will be minuscule in scale when comparing to and witnessing the absurd and horrific actions of Deerskin’s protagonist.

Georges (The Artist’s Jean Dujardin) travels all alone to a small and sleepy French alpine village in the wake of a seemingly abrupt end to his marriage. One of his first stops is at the home of an elderly man who is selling a 100% deerskin jacket, which he buys for a large sum of money. Georges instantly falls in love with his new jacket and uncomfortably seeks recognition of his attire while paying a visit to the local pub that night. Fortunately for Denise, a bored waitress and aspiring film editor (played by Adèle Haenel from Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Georges might be the most interesting visitor she’s met in quite some time. But she isn’t privy to the strange and increasingly sinister hold Georges jacket is having over him.

Writer and director Quentin Dupieux’s comedic horror film does rely heavily on audiences to read between the lines and metaphorically interpret his screenplay in order for it to work as is surely intended. Thankfully, this critical component of the film was something that drew considerable interest from me. There’s no question that Georges’ unsettling behaviour and actions take the film to downright daring territory. For instance, the more unhinged Georges becomes, the grislier the comedic elements grow with it. When humour is to be derived from the unstable mind of a person with a propensity for violence, execution is absolutely vital in order to gain the intended reaction. These developments in the film not only make it even more of an acquired taste than it already was, but aren’t well executed either. I say this partially due to not being overly amused, but largely because the script rapidly accumulates a number of improbabilities that cannot be ignored. Admittedly and simultaneously, Deerskin does maintain and even builds curiosity pertaining to the trajectory of its other primary character, Denise, but leaves us with a finale that I found puzzling.

3 stars

Viewer Discretion
MA15+ (Strong comedic violence)

Trailer
DEERSKIN

Moviedoc thanks Umbrella Entertainment and Annette Smith: Ned & Co Marketing and Publicity for providing the screener link to watch and review this film.

Deerskin is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from August 6.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
Follow on Twitter – Moviedoc / LIKE on Facebook – @moviedoc13

©