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Jessica Forever

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Jessica Forever
Film poster
Directed byCaroline Poggi
Jonathan Vinel
Written byCaroline Poggi
Jonathan Vinel
Produced byEmmanuel Chaumet
Starring
Narrated bySarah-Megan Allouch
CinematographyMarine Atlan
Edited byVincent Tricon
Music byUlysse Klotz
Release date
  • September 16, 2018 (2018-09-16) (TIFF)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

Jessica Forever is a 2018 French fantasy sci-fi drama film written and directed by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel. The film premiered as the closing film of the Platform Prize section of the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.[1][2] It also showed in the Panorama section of the 69th Berlin International Film Festival in 2019.[3]

Plot

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As a leader of a group of lost boys, Jessica, a loving and compassionate person, needs to lead them to a place where peace and harmony exists. Her goal is to create a world where Julien, Kevin, Lucas, Michael and Raiden, can live in peace together, and forever.

Cast

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  • Aomi Muyock as Jessica
  • Sebastian Urzendowsky as Michael
  • Augustin Raguenet as Lucas
  • Lukas Ionesco as Julien
  • Eddy Suiveng as Kevin
  • Paul Hamy as Raiden
  • Maya Coline as Camille
  • Angelina Woreth as Andréa
  • Théo Costa-Marini as Trésor
  • Franck Falise as Sasha
  • Florian Kiniffo as Magic
  • Jordan Klioua as Dimitri
  • Ymanol Perset as Léopard
  • Jean-Marie Pittilloni as Maxime
  • Iliana Zabeth as ice cream seller
  • Ilyess Meftahi as party boy 1
  • Corentin Bachelair as party boy 2
  • Bastien Austruy as party boy 3
  • Christian Desole as boatmaster
  • Abel Mandico as voice of magic water

Reception

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On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 54% based on reviews from 13 critics, with an average rating of 5/10.[4]

Pat Mullen of POV praised the lead actress, writing "Jessica Forever features a heroic woman of the Lara Croft variety leading a group of lost boys through a world in which orphans are hunted, but the film proves too sparse and thinly conceived for its ambiguously open premise to be remotely intriguing or effective".[5]

Jonathan Romney of Film Comment wrote that "Jessica Forever isn't primarily about effects or action - it's largely about feelings, and surprisingly delicate feelings at that".[6]

According to Rafael Motamayor of Bloody Disgusting, "[the film] starts up with a promising premise that it abandons after 5 minutes in favor of following the most boring group of characters in recent memory".[7]

Lena Wilson of The Playlist gave the film a "D" rating, explaining her reasoning by writing that "Jessica Forever has a few delightfully experimental moments – birthday cake letters and self-immolation make for some stunning visuals – but it quickly dovetails into nonsense".[8] She also added that "[t]here are movies, like I Think We're Alone Now and Annihilation" that according to her "use sci-fi strangeness to enhance their dramatic potential and further captivate the audience".[8]

References

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  1. ^ Milligan, Kaitlin (8 August 2018). "World Premiere of JESSICA FOREVER to Close TIFF's 2018 Platform Programme". Broadway World. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Jessica Forever". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Jessica Forever". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Jessica Forever (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  5. ^ Mullen, Pat (17 September 2018). "'Destroyer' Dominated TIFF's Platform Competition, But Where Were the Docs?". POV.
  6. ^ Romney, Jonathan (24 January 2018). "Film of the Week: Jessica Forever". Film Comment.
  7. ^ Motamayor, Rafael (16 September 2018). "[TIFF Review] 'Jessica Forever' Aims High But Falls Flat". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  8. ^ a b Wilson, Lena (15 September 2018). "'Jessica Forever': Sci-Fi Drama Drones On With No Plot In Sight [TIFF Review]". The Playlist. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
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