Festival Focus - Squish
Squish is a refreshingly funny dark comedy and another one of the few black and white films that are showing in this year's Horror Festival.
Xavier Seron completed his first feature fiction film in 2016, Death by Death (Je me tue à le dire). This black comedy was selected at the Karlovy Vary Festival, at the Montreal FNC in the Temps Ø section and Sitges. He has since won several awards, including the New Voices/New Visions Award at the Palm Springs Festival, the Best Director Award in Odessa, and the Magritte Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor (awarded to Jean-Jacques Rausin).
Black and white dark comedy seems to be working in Xavier’s favour. This short horror tells the story of Tom who is left to look after his child Sam, while his partner Flow has to travel for work. Things soon turn sour when Tom rushes out of the driveway to get Sam to his guitar lesson on time.
Both physical humour and well-written lines create the perfect recipe for laughter, while at the same time covering some horrific themes. Unlike many comedy horrors, it does not use nudity and stereotypical characters to tickle its audience. Another aspect that is surprising is LGBT+ representation that does not feel forced, only there to tick a box. The actors had chemistry and it was not used as a plot point or for cheap laughs. To create something that still surprises audiences is not an easy feat, but Squish surpassed my expectations.
This festival focus will be kept brief to avoid any potential spoilers but know that this film is on par with Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Anna and the Apocalypse (2018). It is also not one for the squeamish.
