Coma (2022 film)

Coma is a 2022 French film written and directed by Bertrand Bonello. Combining animation and live action, it tells the story of a teenage girl who is locked in her house during a global health crisis and navigates between dreams and reality, until she starts following a disturbing and mysterious YouTuber named Patricia Coma. It stars Louise Labèque, Julia Faure, Gaspard Ulliel, Laetitia Casta, Vincent Lacoste, Louis Garrel and Anaïs Demoustier.[5] Coma was the last film Ulliel worked in before his death.

Coma
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBertrand Bonello
Screenplay by
  • Bertrand Bonello
Produced by
  • Justin Taurand
  • Bertrand Bonello
  • Felix de Givry
  • Ugo Bienvenu
Starring
CinematographyAntoine Parouty
Edited byGabrielle Stemmer
Music byBertrand Bonello
Production
companies
  • Les Films du Bélier
  • My New Picture
  • Remembers Production
Distributed by
  • New Story (France)
Release dates
Running time
80 minutes[2]
CountryFrance[3]
LanguageFrench[3]
Budget€250,000[4]

Coma made its world premiere on 12 February 2022 at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival,[2] where it competed in the Encounters section and won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film.[6] It was released in theaters in France by New Story on 16 November 2022.

Plot summary

Cast

Production

Development

On 24 December 2021, French website Chaos Reign reported that director Bertrand Bonello had just finished a surprise film titled "Coma" before shooting the film The Beast.[7][8] The film was produced by Les Films du Bélier and My New Picture in co-production with Remembers Production.[2]

Bonello described Coma as the last installment of his trilogy on youth, which started with Nocturama (2016), and was followed by Zombi Child (2019).[9] Bonello wrote the screenplay for Coma during France's January 2021 COVID-19 lockdown, shooting in his own house with a small crew and limited means.[10] Bonello also composed the film's score.[2] The film was shot in twelve days.[9] Julia Faure filmed all of her scenes in only six days with a small crew of seven people and without a boom operator.[11] Coma mixes digital video, 2D and 3D animation,[12] and archival footage.[10] The film is dedicated to, and inspired by Bonello's then-18-year-old daughter, Anna.[13][2]

The origin of Coma was a short film that Bonello did during the first lockdown for Fondazione Prada,[13] Où en êtes-vous? (Numéro 2),[14] which became the prologue to Coma, the letter to his daughter.[15] Bonello said that a lecture by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze ("Beware of the dreams of others, because if you are caught in their dream, you are done for"), made him take the letter and the prologue one step further and to imagine a girl's psyche. It also inspired him to do exactly the opposite of what Deleuze says: "Let us be caught in the dream of the other and see what happens", Bonello said.[15]

In an interview conducted in July 2022, Bonello said he does not rule out giving a sequel to Coma.[12]

Casting

Coma was Bertrand Bonello's second collaboration with Gaspard Ulliel and Louis Garrel after the 2014 biopic Saint Laurent, and also his second collaboration with Louise Labèque after the 2019 film Zombi Child.[5]

Bonello wanted very recognizable voices for the dolls, so that they would quickly have an identity for the viewer.[12] He called on Laetitia Casta, Gaspard Ulliel, Anaïs Demoustier, Vincent Lacoste and Louis Garrel. "All five came to my house, I made coffee, in one morning everything was over. Beyond the very playful side of it all, I helped them to play everything with a first degree which allowed a very simple emotion in the scenes. And a comic effect", Bonello said.[12]

Gaspard Ulliel, who voiced the doll Scott, died following a skiing accident on 19 January 2022.[16] The same day as Ulliel's death, Coma was announced as one of the films selected for the Berlin Film Festival.[17] Ulliel's role in Coma was kept a secret until the film's official plot and full cast were revealed on 2 February 2022,[5] making it the first film released after his death - following its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on 12 February 2022, despite being the last one he filmed, as it was finished in December 2021,[7][8] a month before his death.[16]

Ulliel had recently died when Bonello was editing the film. Bonello told Variety: "I was alone in a screening room, and Gaspard had just died, and when I heard his voice resonating in the room it was like a haunting. I thought about some lines from the letter to my daughter where I talk about those we've lost. The film is called 'Coma' and has scenes in a forest that connects the living and the dead. So watching it again felt uncanny. Gaspard resonated throughout."[10]

Marketing

The first image featuring Louise Labèque, the full cast and plot details were revealed on 2 February 2022.[5]

Two clips from the film titled "Catatonie" and "Cullen" were released on 10 February 2022.[18] The clip titled "Cullen" featured the voices of Gaspard Ulliel and Laetitia Casta as the dolls Scott and Sharon, respectively.[19]

Belgian sales company Best Friend Forever released a poster[20] and an exclusive 20-second teaser trailer for the film on their Instagram account on 11 February 2022.[21]

On 16 February 2022, Best Friend Forever released on their Instagram account a new 9-second clip featuring Louise Labèque playing an electronic device similar to Rubik's Cube.[22]

New Story released a new poster for the film on their official website in early October 2022.[23] The film's official trailer was released on New Story's social media on 14 October 2022.[24][25]

Release

On 2 February 2022, it was reported that Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever had acquired the film.[26]

The film had its world premiere in the 'Encounters' section at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on 12 February 2022.[2] It made its North American premiere at the 60th New York Film Festival in the 'Currents' section on 1 October 2022,[27] and was screened at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival in the 'Dare' section on 5 October 2022.[28]

New Story released the film in theaters in France on 16 November 2022.[1] The film will be released on DVD on 22 March 2023.[29]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 78% based on 9 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.80/10.[30] Film Comment ranked the film number two on its list of "Best Undistributed Films of 2022".[31] The Film Stage also included Coma on its list of "The Best Undistributed Films of 2022".[32]

Fabien Lemercier of Cineuropa wrote; "It is an invisible, poetic, philosophico-chaotic map that Bertrand Bonello draws in Coma, an immersive experience of recentring of the self between life and death, a fragmentary essay about change, an indirect portrait of a young generation suffering, a cryptic dispatch of coded messages preparing for dawn at the heart of the cannibalistic night of the world", and "Those baffled by Coma, will no doubt get another chance in the future to rewatch what will inevitably become a cult film."[33]

Rafaela Sales Ross of The Playlist wrote; "In an oversaturated market for pandemic-themed films, "Coma" is a delirious marvel of a reminder that, in the right hands, there is no such thing as an unfeasible subject."[34]

Anna Smith of Deadline wrote; "Bonello calls this film a "little gesture," and in many ways it feels like an intimate story. But its wider resonance makes it a topical and quietly thought-provoking watch."[35]

Cédric Succivalli of International Cinephile Society wrote that "Coma is a neo-Lynchian slow burn masterpiece that will wow those willing to embark on its tumultuous journey with its mise en abymes and epiphanies of visual ecstasy. It's a near impossible patchwork film to grasp at first sight and will require multiple viewings undoubtedly, but it should obtain cult status over time. Coma's final ten minutes are already in my all-time pantheon of best finales ever, echoing the finale of Terrence Malick's Tree of Life ten years later with melancholy and despair."[36] Succivalli also praised Julia Faure's performance by saying; "what a treasure of an actress the underrated Julia Faure is in the cosmos of contemporary French cinema. She brings warmth, sensuousness and iconoclasm to an emotional rollercoaster of a story that needed her like champagne needs bubbles",[36] and the late Gaspard Ulliel as the doll Scott, "whose smooth voice cannot but break our hearts".[36]

Awards and nominations
Year Award / Film Festival Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2022 Berlin Film Festival Encounters Bertrand Bonello Nominated [2]
FIPRESCI Award for Best Film in the Encounters section Bertrand Bonello Won [6]
Istanbul Film Festival Golden Tulip Bertrand Bonello Nominated [37]
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Film Festival Golden Lady Harimaguada Award for Best Feature Film Bertrand Bonello Nominated [38][39]
Longtake Interactive Film Festival Best Film Bertrand Bonello Nominated [40][41]

References
  1. "Des distributeurs ajustent leurs line-ups" [Distributors adjust their line-ups]. Boxoffice Pro (in French). 12 May 2022. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  2. "Berlinale | Programme - Coma". Berlinale.de. 10 February 2022. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  3. "Coma de Bertrand Bonello". UniFrance. Retrieved 8 October 2022. Technical details > Production country: France / Production language: French
  4. Lepesant, Victor (14 November 2022). "Interview de Bertrand Bonello". Super Seven (in French).
  5. Pearce, Leonard (2 February 2022). "First Look and Plot Details for Bertrand Bonello's Coma, Premiering at Berlinale". The Film Stage.
  6. "Two Silver Bears for French cinema at the 72nd Berlinale". UniFrance. 17 February 2022.
  7. Roos, Gautier (24 December 2021). "INFO CHAOS – Avant " La bête ", Bertrand Bonello a réalisé un film-surprise intitulé " Coma "" [INFO CHAOS – Before “The Beast”, Bertrand Bonello made a surprise film entitled “Coma”]. Chaos Reign (in French). Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  8. Roos, Gautier (25 December 2021). "[INTERVIEW BERTRAND BONELLO] Le grand entretien chaos" [[INTERVIEW BERTRAND BONELLO] The Great Chaos Interview]. Chaos Reign (in French). Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  9. "Coma | Berlinale Meets... Bertrand Bonello | Berlinale 2022". YouTube. 9 February 2022.
  10. Croll, Ben (13 February 2022). "'Coma' Helmer Bonello Vows to Go on With 'Beast' Despite Ulliel Death". Variety.
  11. Cheze, Thierry (16 November 2022). "Julia Faure : "Sur Coma, j'ai eu le sentiment de vivre le luxe absolu, comme comédienne"" [Julia Faure: "On Coma, I had the feeling of experiencing absolute luxury, as an actress"]. Première.fr (in French).
  12. "Coma | Dossier de Presse" [Coma | French Press Kit]. New Story (in French). Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. Katz, David (15 February 2022). "Bertrand Bonello • Director of Coma". Cineuropa.
  14. "Finite Rants". Fondazione Prada. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  15. "Coma - Berlin Press Kit" (PDF). Best Friend Forever. p. 4. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  16. Vaux-Montagny, Nicolas (20 January 2022). "Gaspard Ulliel, French actor slated to appear in 'Moon Knight,' dies at 37". The Washington Post.
  17. Balaga, Marta (19 January 2022). "The Berlinale announces its competition titles: "Never before have we welcomed so many love stories"". Cineuropa.
  18. "Coma new clip official "Catatonie" from Berlin Film Festival 2022 - 1/2". YouTube. 10 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  19. "Coma new clip official "Cullen" from Berlin Film Festival 2022 - 2/2". YouTube. 10 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  20. Best Friend Forever (11 February 2022). "Bertrand Bonello's new film COMA! World premiere this week-end in Berlinale Encounters". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  21. Best Friend Forever (11 February 2022). "Check out the exclusive teaser for Bertrand Bonello's new film COMA! World premiere this week-end in Berlinale Encounters". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  22. Best Friend Forever (16 February 2022). ""Beware of other's dreaming. Never get caught in another's dream" - Gilles Deleuze. COMA by Bertrand Bonello World-Premiere in Berlinale Encounters". Instagram.
  23. "Coma". New Story (in French). Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  24. "Le 16 Novembre au cinéma, découvrez COMA, le nouveau film de Bertrand Bonello ! Un film qui vous apprendra à mieux vivre". Instagram (in French). 14 October 2022. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  25. "First International Trailer for Bertrand Bonello's Coma Captures a Solitary Life". The Film Stage. 19 October 2022.
  26. Keslassy, Elsa (2 February 2022). "Bertrand Bonello's Berlinale Film 'Coma' Acquired by Best Friend Forever (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  27. "Coma". Film Society of Lincoln Center. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  28. "Buy tickets for Coma | BFI London Film Festival 2022". BFI London Film Festival. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  29. "Coma DVD - Bertrand Bonello". FNAC.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  30. "Coma". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  31. "Best Undistributed Films of 2022". Film Comment. 14 December 2022. Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  32. "The Best Undistributed Films of 2022". The Film Stage. 2 January 2023.
  33. Lemercier, Fabien (12 February 2022). "Review: Coma". Cineuropa.
  34. Sales Ross, Rafaela (13 February 2022). "'Coma': Bertrand Bonello's Latest Is An Unforgiving, Nightmarish Blast [Berlin Film Festival]". The Playlist.
  35. Smith, Anna (12 February 2022). "Berlin Review: Bertrand Bonello's 'Coma,' Featuring Gaspard Ulliel". Deadline.
  36. Succivalli, Cédric (13 February 2022). "Berlinale 2022 review: Coma (Bertrand Bonello)". International Cinephile Society.
  37. Christensen, Tina Jøhnk (15 April 2022). "Istanbul Film Festival Kicks off with "Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush"". Golden Globes.
  38. Rivera, Alfonso (21 April 2022). "95 films to be screened at the 21st Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Festival". Cineuropa.
  39. "The 21FICLPGC's Official Feature Film Section starts tomorrow". Festival Internacional de Cine Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. 24 April 2022.
  40. "Longtake Interactive Film Festival 2022". Longtake.it (in Italian).
  41. "LIFF 2022: tutti i vincitori". Longtake.it (in Italian). 5 December 2022.
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