Earwig (2021) User Reviews

Pulling Teeth

[nikhil7179 · 5/10 · 7 August 2022]

Pretty pictures do not a film make.

Though Earwig has great cinematography and an ethereal glass harmonica score, it is dramatically inert from the word go.

It comes off as dull and pretentious and squanders its moody setting and mysterious premise.

Lucille Hadzihallilovic's third feature is arguably her weakest and most self-indulgent yet.

The female mystery

[borgolarici · 5/10 · 16 August 2022]

This movie is very clearly open to many different interpretations, mine is mostly based on my emotional response. I think in a way this work kinda dives into the hidden fear and repulsion many people have towards the female body: menstruations, fertility, pregnancy, etc.

Albert is scared by Mia's first symbolic period, has unnerving memories of his wife's pregnancy and Celeste's character speaks for itself. The war barely ended so we also have another layer of violence to add to the complex situation.

It's a very very interesting movie but the pacing is glacial so I can't give it more than 5.

weird european filmaking...

[ops-52535 · 5/10 · 6 August 2022]

That tells me that one have to be a bit psychedelic and its a plus to have a brain like a mashed potato when conceiving the idea to this rather dubious and introvert carachtertableau, a film with loads of dark , loads of drivelling teeth and all the caracteristics of deep psychological drama.

The story can be elaborated in multipel ways, therefore loads of metaphorical filmreviewers can devour and will produce their own visionaries, the grumpy old man aint that kind, i may praise the filmography and the episcopal way of acting, its like a druid circus at moments of repetitiveness and claustrophobia. As an art film its a recommend, but it aint a film for the masses.

A road to nowhere

[apollosdei · 3/10 · 3 March 2023]

It's a visually attractive movie that makes you think that there is some goal or explanation, yet this never arrives. The environment is dark, dim, damp, old, ghostly. The characters behave in ways that only a writer can force upon, as their behaviors don't match with real people. You could bet that there is some bigger secret or explanation for such artificiality, yet nope. Again, there isn't.

The ending is a whimsical and random and slightly disgusting as the whole movie and you could play games about the explanation. But this is faux depth. Is trying to make the viewer or reader the creator, and that's a horrible technique.

Beautifully photographed, well acted and a disturbing story. Missing spark and punch.

[imseeg · 7 August 2022]

You gotta be in the mood to watch a movie like this, because it freaked me out because of it's realy weird and disturbing story. Therefore only recommended for the diehard arthouse movie fans, who can stumach a bleak and depressing story.

The good: beautifully photographed, with some scenes resembing a still picture or a painting. It really looks gorgeous and I really love that. The many unknown actors are acting really well, although there is definitely a lack of chemistry BETWEEN the actors and that brings me to the criticism...

The bad: this movie is definitely lacking spark and punch caused by a real lack of interaction between the actors, which wasnt bothering me at the start, but halfway through I began to get somewhat bored by this absence of actors actually speaking to each other. But this is only a minor criticism, many other folks might not mind about this at all.

A beautifully looking moody picture, with it's only downfall being a lack of actor's chemistry.

Dark and Twisted

[Randy-Dreammaker · 7/10 · 8 August 2022]

Earwig is so dark and twisted that you will either love it or hate it.

It reminds me of a 1989 movie I saw with a friend that was so bizarre and dark, that i never forgot it, never want to see it again, but in an odd way love it. That was, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Love.

Though Earwig's story is nothing like it, it has that same kind of darkness running throughout.

It pulls off so many technical concepts they teach in film school excellently, to the point I gave it at least a star or two higher than maybe i would if I hadn't gone to film school.

I don't think there is a good way to describe this movies story.

It is very much an artistic movie from a story perspective, with minimal dialogue and there are elements of it that remind of Tim Burton's darker movies.

100% recommended for anyone in film school or interested in filmmaking or cinematography.

Otherwise, it's dark, weird, and strange enough I'd say don't watch it unless your in a good mood and mentally healthy.

.

Two hours of arthouse nada

[tknmzombie · 3/10 · 13 August 2022]

Spoiler:

There us no reasoning behind the kid and her special teeth.

There is no creapy twist vampire ending.

Normal humans try to eat each other's faces due to mental trauma. That is sort of wierd.

Bringing out the most accurate reactions

[avindugunasinghe · 6/10 · 12 January 2023]

Of course he is the father but what if a man cannot father beyond the limit of caretaker what a household looks like is visualised well the silence the heartbreaking loneliness of Mia may talk to many of us. Melting ice with anxious eavesdropping signals the child is a burden for Albert. He deface his lover scarring her for being unable to get rid of his burden, she still follow Albert leaving fortunes and getting pitied with free drinks thats the low she falls to be with him. Celeste scars him for life same as herself through which they become one. Outward grpahic nature induce the natural perspective of the society towards such a union. Earwig is a love story that cries for us the tears of living through life.

Now I understand why they put the titles on the beginning

[mrobledo-252-927508 · 3/10 · 12 November 2022]

I understand that it might be some kind artistic expression but I'm afraid it's not everyone cup of tea.

I usually like slow development movies but this one ended up being utterly boring.

After 20 minutes of no dialog I gave up.

If you are looking for a good suspense and mystery movie I think this is not the case. Further more if you have to wait more than half an our to see something happening, I can't consider it entertaining.

As I mentioned in the title they probably understood that most of people will not reach the end of the movie and that's why they opted for adding the credits before the movie starts.

Murky

[derek-duerden · 6/10 · 3 March 2023]

I'm not a fan of films that are (literally) so dark I can't see what's going on. I know that this is a popular directors' device to "enhance engagement" but IMHO it risks losing the audience completely. In this case, I stuck with it, but remained quite irritated.

Fortunately, the tone and mood compensate somewhat, and the air of mystery is well-maintained, and the occasional bursts of extreme violence are appropriately shocking. I can't honestly say I worked out what it all meant and what was "really happening", but it was quite interesting nevertheless.

Worth a look - I preferred "Evolution" though.

Looks cool but is utterly meaningless

[Ansango · 5/10 · 14 June 2023]

EARWIG's bare-bones plot is filled with odd narrative choices, unintentionally slow pace, cryptic happenings and a heavy dose of bizarreness. It's an inane exercise in surrealism with a hallucinatory atmosphere but an incomprehensible narration that offers nothing worthwhile- just some cool sequences here and there, nothing much. It's a film that smartly tricks you into thinking as if you have watched something profound and meaningful, but in reality, is trivial and futile. It's beautifully shot and finely acted, and that's pretty much where its pros stop, the rest is a pure lethargic and labyrinthine mess, that has a quaint charm for sure but isn't sure about its objectives.

Perplexing and Eerie

[Blue-Grotto · 10/10 · 21 September 2021]

"You have a week to prepare her to be on the outside." The chilling, emotionless instructions come over the phone to a creepy, unfeeling, shell of a man. This man, Albert, treats a ten-year-old girl in his charge like she is a machine or an experiment, not like the child that she is. Albert does not let her out of the house. He changes her braces of metal and ice, feeds her, and little else. The little girl dutifully follows his instructions and submits to the darkness and control. The meaning of it all is unclear.

Earwig is a perplexing, eerie, bizarre, shocking, and fascinating puzzle to unravel. It is full of colorful sequences of light that reflect the emotional states of characters. It is unsettling, strange, and disturbing, yet entrancing and radiant. By bending reality, immersing you in low light and moody music, and with flashbacks, the film brings you into a Kafka-like story. There are so many questions left unanswered; a girl diving into water, a woman watching, stabbings, surprising emotional shifts, a girl singing that triggers deep emotions, and so much more.

In an introduction to the film the director encourages the audience to keep an open mind. Try to keep your head from exploding is better advice.

World premiere seen at the Toronto international film festival. English is the spoken language of this film based on a novel by Brian Catling. Not streaming anywhere yet.

There's no point🤕🤕🤕

[Democrit · 1/10 · 16 August 2023]

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the image on the poster is much more expressive than on this one, and even the poster creator realized which canvas was in front of him.

The title credits begin, proclaiming the uniqueness of the creators. If this is the case, then we have complete freedom to express criticism.

Don't look for meaning, it doesn't exist. It's just artistic images that don't have an obvious connection in terms of meaning, but only visually. Yes, the name of the image explains what is happening - you can hear all the sounds: rustling, creaking, chewing, swallowing. An earwig is an insect, but do not allow yourself to be deceived - the creator shamelessly slips a false image. It's an abstraction and an art house. I look at this and think of David Lynch, who made surrealist films not for the sake of surrealism itself, but only to use the form of art cinema in his film language. The whole movie is dark, you can't make out anything without a magnifying glass, but the creator of this work of art doesn't need clarity. He films for himself and in the name of himself, in the name of his genius. Let's applaud the genius!

Boooring

[gianmarcoronconi · 3/10 · 26 September 2023]

This is not a real review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions on the film.

This film is what comes to mind when I think of nothingness, when I give my thoughts to the useless and comical void from now on this film will come to mind because it is the only way to describe this inconclusive and very boring film that I would like to say everything but in the end it doesn't even manage to interest the viewer thanks to a flat, boring and senseless plot. The only thing that saves this film a little is the very dark and sad atmosphere done very well and the rendering of the whole thing about the teeth, but otherwise it's total rubbish.

Still film with lots of symbolism

[olcayozfirat · 3/10 · 20 October 2023]

It's one of the movies I'm most bored watching. Anyway, I don't force myself to wonder what he wanted to say in the movies or what he tried to say with symbolism. I look at the subject, the process and the result. That's why I didn't enjoy this movie at all.

A man is babysitting a little girl. The girl has no teeth. That's why he puts his saliva into a mold with the device in his mouth and makes teeth out of ice every day. Since the girl's father does not want to see him, he calls the caretaker on the phone and gives instructions. The caring man has his own story. But really, you should watch the movie while wearing a scarf and smoking a pipe. Not for me.

150 minutes wasted

[inferc · 1/10 · 3 October 2023]

Non existent plot, hilarious ending. 150 minutes wasted. This movie shouldn't exist. It doesn't make logical sense, or at least, if it does, no one knows. Do not waste your time. I would like to know if Lucile Hadzihalilovic herself also knows what this film means, what the plot or meaning is. I tried to search for explanations about it on the internet, but I couldn't find anything, I still regret having wasted almost 2 hours of my life like this. If anyone by chance has understood something please explain hahaha, because for me it was like looking at cosmic nothingness... Rated 1 star out of 10.

Slow, haunting, mysterious

[giovannigiusti · 9/10 · 27 January 2023]

Is there a plot in this film? There are fragments, suggestions of plots, references to things that happened and maybe to the sequence in which they happened. There is just enough storyline to keep you hooked.

Lucile Hadzihalilovic is a master of telling the stories of children the way that children themselves see them: not as cute or simple, but as full of mystery and possibility, in a world which is not "real" the way that it's real for us adults. We are also children when watching this film, as we don't quite understand what's going on, yet we are moved and fully involved in the story.

If you don't like this type of sensation, maybe this is not the film for you. But if you are ready to accept a less-than-complete control over what you are seeing, this magical, haunting movie will stay with you for a long time.

Atmospheric and...that's it.

[petraliamarco · 3/10 · 21 October 2023]

This is like when your friend that is into photography shows you their album with 300 pictures of a moody park. We get it, it looks great, it's dimly lit and everything has an almost oniric look. If you were making a documentary on Belgium in autumn, you would get a higher score. Unfortunately this tries to be a movie. Let's talk about the plot: this weird looking guy is the caretaker for a young girl. He has to change her dentures every day, because they are made of ice. Do you get it? No, me neither. It could literally mean anything. Is she sick? Is he a cold and distant father? Is this some kind of weird fetish? Is she a ghost? Nobody knows. They never speak and live in this rather big house with great wooden paneling, really the best part of the " movie". Then 10 minutes of silence while they look at stuff in the house. Going strong so far, too bad they decide to break the quiet with a telephone ringing. Apparently the weird guy gets paid monthly to take care of the girl, but he has to carry her somewhere in two weeks? So you think :" uh oh, this is some weird experiment or worse, i hope the girl will be alright.." .Nope, apparently he is imagining the calls, because later the cleaning lady has no idea about what he is talking about. Ok, some sort of "Shining" situation, where the father is not quite..there? Maybe, but also probably not? Then we leave the house, thank god, and we discover that belgium looks like a romantic poet's wet dream. Not a ray of sunshine to be had, the whole movie. The girl escapes and immediately drops into a lake, face first. Wow, do you get it? No, me neither. The caretaker takes her out and while doing so sees a lady looking at him from a little bridge, basically 5 meters from them. Ninja lady we will call her, since she disappears or appears at will multiple times, without the other character noticing. We will very soon discover who she is. She is none other than Celeste, the barmaid of the bar our hero visited one time. We see in what we will discover was a flashback that our hero stabbed her in the face with a broken bottle, while trying to stab a "stranger", which is a totally normal response, don't even question it. Our protagonist escapes the scene and never gets bothered by anyone because of this attempted murder. Not even by the neighbours, it's the perfect crime apparently. Now we follow the barmaid. Why? Who knows. She is in an hospital and a random guy is sitting at her bed when she wakes up. She even says :" Who are you?". He says that he will take care of her. Nobody asks him anything or question this in any way. Nobody else comes to visit, despite her being a fairly beloved barmaid in one of the not many bars in town. The guy looks a bit like a younger, creepier version of our "hero" . He then goes on to make her his property, ordering gyno visits for her, paying for her expenses, giving her drugs. Nobody ever questions this, of course. He procedes to make a reasonable proposal to her, once she is dismissed from the hospital. " Would you leave everything you know and come and live with me, a creepy stranger?". Meanwhile big things are happening in the house: our hero can't sleep and has vivid nightmares. Exciting stuff, i was smiling from ear to ear with happiness. Back to the main plot: ninja lady accepts the proposal of the creepy man. At that moment she sees our hero taking the girl out of the lake. See, everything that happened with ninja lady was a flashback. Mind blown! So then the girl has difficulties with her dentures, they won't fit anymore. Why? She apparently dramatically changed the shape of her mouth in a week. The hero is clueless so he just jam them in her mouth. Again, the "weird fetish" idea creeps into our mind, but let's hope it's something else. He asks the cleaning lady for help, but she is clueless and has no idea about any "masters". The phone rings but nobody is there. Now, i get it. The blood from the mouth could be a metaphore for the girl's first menstrual blood, which the "hero" could have problems handling. The cleaning lady would probably help but our hero is confused and manages to scare her away. But if it is a metaphore for the girl gradual change into a woman, then why , later, a dentist comes and give her glass dentures? I guess because glass has a weird significance for our hero? We see him contemplating glasses for minutes, we see even other people doing the same. They are trying to say something, that much is clear, what though? Once again it could be interpreted in many ways. Anyway then we are on a train, moving slowly into the beautiful grey and foggy belgian countryside. These scenes have all the excitement of a long, boring trip to work in a rainy winter morning, but less interesting. Our hero sleeps, once again, guy must be under sedatives at this point, he is barely awake when he is not sleeping. Our little girl is eating imaginary fleas from a black cat the dentist brought in their house, but never ever took back. Is the black cat a metaphor ? Probably. Or not. Womanhood? Depression? Disease? Guilt? A weird fetish? Who cares at this point. In another part of the train we have ninja lady and creepy dude, she is taking painkillers in a weirdly sensual way while a small boy watches. Oook, getting strange vibes movie, but let's pretend. They get off the train at their station and she is so drugged up that she can barely walk. Creepy guy leaves her on a bench to get a car for them, i guess. She sees our hero looking at her from the train. Now she suddenly can walk really fast and she gets on the train off screen. Nobody asks her for a ticket, which she shouldn't have because they already arrived at their destination. So our hero and ninja lady both arrive at the same station, apparently ninja lady put a spy device on our hero because she knows exactly where to go. We have her climaxing on the bed while our hero and the little girl eat in what we must assume is another room, maybe even a different hotel. Our hero starts climaxing too and then transforms into what we could only assume was the wife of our hero and the mother of the girl. The weird woman touches the girl hand, while making a strange face. Movie, i'm not sure i like these sensually charged scenes. Anyway, we arrive at what is probably an..orphanage? I guess. The main doctor there is the stranger our hero tried to stab in that bar one hour ago. Get it??? Hmmm...not really, no. He then goes to sign the custody papers and we discover he was the real father of the girl..or was he? Probably. He then gets out and sees a lady that he thinks is his wife...but it was ninja lady all along that stabs him in the face with a bottle! Can you believe it, ladies and gentlemen, she's got a broken bottle! It all comes together, it's like poetry, it rhymes. Then she starts sensually sucking his blood..WHAT??? I knew it, it was some sort of weird fetish! The End. No seriously, that's it. Now, if i get it right : the guy was in the war and is a bit..damaged. He had the girl with his wife but she died, which didn't help of course. He then isolates himself from the world and from his daughter, he sees her as a "thing" now. Later he gives her away, which i guess is something you can do? That's the basic plot. Probably.

Very cinematic and well filmed just not my thing

[kaitlynk-00170 · 1/10 · 23 March 2024]

I was fascinated in the beginning especially watching as Albert connected the little girl Mia with her ice dentures. There's definitely a lot to be said for the symbolism behind a lot of what happens to Mia. She bleeds a lot and I think this is supposed to symbolize her first period. She is about that age. I got bored after about the first 40 minutes and this movie is almost 2 hours long. The ending scene is grotesque though, and if you're into disturbing scenes then you might enjoy this. There's a lot of lighting and camera angles and mood music but in my opinion not enough actual plot to keep the story going.

Unique and acquired piece

[martinpersson97 · 10/10 · 17 June 2023]

This film, admittedly, might not be for everyone.

It is deliberately put together in a very artistic and unconventional way with themes and acting, cinematography etc. Being more focused upon than more linear and traditional storytelling.

I personally really loved this film, as someone very much into these kind of experimental pieces, and I think it was all conveyed very beautifully, very artistically and in an incredibly interesting way.

The actors do an incredible job and utilizes facial acting a lot, more so than dialogue. It is truly a work by an immense auteur that I am very intrigued by. The imagery is beautiful and it utilizes visual storytelling and thematic experiences splendidly.

Overall, a true masterpiece, yet maybe an acquired one!

Disturbing Universe by an Original Creator

[EdgarST · 8/10 · 15 April 2024]

Yesterday I had the pleasure to see "Earwig" and "Kerr", two films that could intrigue and fascinate whoever sees them. However, some may get desperate because they do not "explain" in detail what is happening, while others can follow the flow of beautifully captivating images and sounds that, as in this case, narrate the story.

«Earwig» the second feature film by French filmmaker Lucile Hadzihalilovic, the daughter of Bosnian parents who was raised in Moscow and studied film at IDHEC (later FEMIS) in Paris. Married to Gaspar Noé, Lucile was previously an editor and screenwriter (she wrote "Enter the Void" with Noé, among others). This is first film I see by her, and I found quite an original creator, able to paint a disturbing universe, bordering on the limits of horror.

The movie follows the fate of five characters, at the center of which are Scellinc (Hilton), a gloomy 50-year-old man who has little Mia (Hemelaers) under his care, having to change her ice teeth several times a day. Scellinc keeps Mia in a mansion with almost no sunlight and everything seems to be in order, until the day he receives the order to prepare Mia to live out of that oppressive space. On the other hand, we see the story of the waitress Céleste (Garaï), whose right cheek is accidentally disfigured by Scellinc, when he attacks a foreigner (Begin) who harasses him in the local pub; and finally, Laurence (Lawther), who chooses to take care of the waitress in exchange for company.

However, the stories take place chronologically and in parallel, while simultaneously memories of Scellinc's childhood take form, creating a kind of kaleidoscope, loaded with luminous images that emerge from crystals. «Earwig» is a beautiful journey towards the rendezvous with destiny for Scellinc and Mia, with horrific "forking paths" where terror waits in silence.

Winner of the Special Jury Prize in San Sebastián, it is a film that deserves recognition, especially among full-time cinéphiles who have an ecumenical vision of cinema, which is not limited only to what Hollywood offers.

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I also wrote about «Kerr», please check it.