Coma
Amidst a period of unprecedented world events, an eighteen-year-old girl’s life is placed on hold. Isolated in her bedroom, she falls under the spell of the mysterious vlogger Patricia Coma. As time carries on, the lines between her dreams, fears, hopes, and reality begin to blur into one another.
From French master Bertrand Bonello (The Beast, Zombi Child, Nocturama), COMA is “a neo-Lynchian slow burn masterpiece” (International Cinephile Society) that creates a dream-like representation of our present. A “delirious marvel” (The Playlist) that breaks apart boundaries of genre, filmmaking, and storytelling, COMA bravely confronts the anxieties of today in order to imagine the possibilities of the future.
Cast
- Louise Labeque
- Julia Faure
- Louis Garrel
- Laetitia Casta
- Gaspard Ulliel
- Anaïs Demoustier
- Vincent Lacoste
- Ninon François
Blu-ray Features
Audio commentary by director Bertrand Bonello
Discs: 1
DVD Features
Discs: 1
- "Pushes the boundaries of the so-called lockdown movie with its thrilling, chaotic form.... “Coma” [surpasses] the trappings of a lockdown movie: It may be anchored to that period, but it speaks to an existential crisis that defines many right now."
- "Coma is a neo-Lynchian slow burn masterpiece that will wow those willing to embark on its tumultuous journey."
- "Enigmatic and Lynchian, subversive and intelligent, by turns gravely sobering and laugh-out-loud riotous, COMA is a film like no other, playing with genres, styles, and form but always experimenting purposefully, in the end, blurring dreams and reality into an intelligent treatise on the modern world at the height of the pandemic it just faced."
- "Bertrand Bonello offers up a spellbinding experimental film, a handcrafted work of creative genius.... It is an invisible, poetic, philosophico-chaotic map that Bertrand Bonello draws in Coma, an immersive experience of recentering 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...."
- "...the deadpan levity and razor-edged awareness of Gen Z’s present both notable new dimensions to the corpus of a beguiling, unpredictable virtuoso."
- "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. "
- "How valuable it is to have this pandemic-era dispatch from Bonello, one of the only directors since Lynch to grasp that in dreams begin responsibility."
- "Bertrand Bonello’s Coma might be understood as a fascinating update of David Cronenberg’s body horror classic Videodrome, addressing the corporeal, psychological, and existential crises of our hypermediated age."
- "“Coma” is a delirious marvel of a reminder that, in the right hands, there is no such thing as an unfeasible subject."
- "Designed as a way to understand and reassure his teenage daughter, it deploys an imaginative range of techniques (3D animation, surveillance cameras, archive footage, etc.), ideas and aphorisms to reflect on the modern world and the fears of those who will inherit it."
- "An achingly personal expression."
- "The cinematography by Antoine Parouty is dream-like and beautiful......The performances in Coma are a testament to the talent involved. Babeque’s portrayal of the lead character is a masterclass in emotional range, making each emotion feel authentic and relatable. Faure’s performance as Patricia Coma brings a depth of empathy and humanity to a role that might only exist in the lead’s head. The voice acting during the sitcom segments strikes the perfect balance between comedy and drama, adding another layer of depth to the film.......Bonello perfectly captures that lost feeling brought on by prolonged isolation. All the days run together, compounding the sense of confusion and frustration. The comedy and drama balance each other well, while the varying styles create a wholly unique work of art that perfectly captures the uncertainty of the beginnings of quarantine."
- "Thought-provoking exploration of adolescent life amidst the challenges of a global pandemic serves as a visually striking depiction of young individuals' complexities when their worlds are confined to the digital realm. It shows the reaches of creativity and the darkness of a world apart."
- "Wildly experimental....a seductive curiosity."
Awards & Recognition
FIPRESCI Prize - Encounters
Berlin Int'l. Film Festival
Best Picture
International Cinephile Society Awards
Best Production Design
International Cinephile Society Awards
New York Film Festival
BFI London Film Festival
Mar del Plata Film Festival