Mandibles

Initially, I was deterred by the film's apparent silliness and considered stopping it altogether. However, as I persisted, I found myself appreciating the genuine and somewhat touching absurdity of the duo, as well as the completely outrageous nature of the story. It's a peculiar film that may not appeal to all tastes in humor.

Humor dels 80 actualitzat al 2020. Crítica a la societat adinerada…

Like any Quentin Dupieux movie, the absurd is the main character. Here, 2 morons capturing a human-sized fly. And by the way of a quid pro quoi being invited by some kids in their house for a weekend. Things then get oddly funny from there. I don't like all of Dupieux necessarily but Mandibles is very approachable, the absurd is not overly present which helps with the engagement, and some actors deliver exhilarating performances (Adele Exarchopoulos! Gregoire Ludig!).

There is something inherently likable about the way Dupieux depicts his two moronic stars and Ludig and Marsais' performances imbue them with a Dude-like sense of purposelessness.

This one is very good if you're looking for something very dumb. If you are looking for anything but goofy laughs, definitely look elsewhere. :-)

I loved this film. Absurd but it draws you in. Such an engaging fly. The final shot made me laugh right through the credits.

The teaser trailer that's just a clip of Adele Exarchopoulis reacting to the fly is the only moment that really made me laugh, but even in context, that moment is tainted by the immediately unfunny turn of the following scene. Spoilers: the accusation made against Exarchopoulis's character and the actions of the other characters after this scene was so disturbing and unfunny to me, it ruined what little enjoyment I had with the previous 2/3rds of the film. I just walked away feeling sick and sad for her character. The plot treats her as though it doesn't matter what happens to her because her condition makes her "difficult". In the filmmaker's eyes she's "crazy" and by extension completely irredeemable. It just made me super concerned for her character. What message does that send, that there's a trope in filmmaking where mentally ill people are portrayed as a disposable hassle? I see this one a lot, but this is the most obvious example I can think of. The problem is that It normalizes the abuse of neuro-divergent people and that effects the way they're treated in real life.

I rather liked Quentin Dupieux's last film, Deerskin, but Mandibles lost me early or perhaps it's better said that I lost Mandibles. It has a giant fly and it's off the wall and original, however it didn't connect. Perhaps it's because it's in French and there's nuance to the humor in the language that doesn't translate to English. Nevertheless, we have a comedy that isn't funny. Despite being 78 minutes, it feels much longer. Could have made for a pretty neat short. You may want to find out what Dupieux was smoking and/or drinking to enjoy his film and that isn't a good thing. Final Score: 4/10

I've seen horrible, terrible movies like carnosaur, the blob, critters, that one horrible movie about a Mormon guy refusing to bang a cutie Polynesian girl, and some other terrible piles of sh*t, but this one is in the realm of terrible beyond salvation and also somehow praised by some pretentious douchebags who claimed "oh it's so experimental", blegh, what a waste of an hour and some minutes if I could go back in time I would punch myself for exposing myself to this hot garbage.

One of the worst movie I have ever see!