Jessica Forever
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 Platforms 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]
| Jessica Forever | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Caroline Poggi Jonathan Vinel |
| Written by | Caroline Poggi Jonathan Vinel |
| Produced by | Emmanuel Chaumet |
| Starring |
|
| Narrated by | Sarah-Megan Allouch |
| Cinematography | Marine Atlan |
| Edited by | Vincent Tricon |
| Music by | Ulysse Klotz |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Plot
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
- 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
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
- Milligan, Kaitlin (8 August 2018). "World Premiere of JESSICA FOREVER to Close TIFF's 2018 Platform Programme". Broadway World. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- "Jessica Forever". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- "Jessica Forever". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- "Jessica Forever (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- Mullen, Pat (17 September 2018). "'Destroyer' Dominated TIFF's Platform Competition, But Where Were the Docs?". POV.
- Romney, Jonathan (24 January 2018). "Film of the Week: Jessica Forever". Film Comment.
- Motamayor, Rafael (16 September 2018). "[TIFF Review] 'Jessica Forever' Aims High But Falls Flat". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- 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.