• Golden Globe Awards

The Demons (Canada)

The Demons, a Canadian drama, written and directed by the rising star filmmaker Philippe Lesage ( San Francisco Film Society's Golden Gate New Directors Prize), explores the darkest depths of the human soul, as seen through the perspective of a young boy anxiously witnessing a wave of child abductions in his town.Based in part on Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage’s own childhood experience – though that experience was not as dramatic as the film – The Demons offers an extraordinary examination of childhood fears and of the anxiety associated with a nascent sexuality.Sumptuously shot in a style hovering between dreamy poetic vision and the documentary-like approach of this ultra-talented director, the images from this film will imprint your subconscious and will never fade away. Among these images, those of a friendly lifesaver (an unsettling performance by Pierre-Luc Funk) who hides a terrifying reality, giving whole new meaning to the Freudian concept of "worrying strangeness.”  The boy is played by the young prodigy Édouard Tremblay-Grenier. The film also features Laurent Lucas and Pascale Bussières as Félix’s parents. These actor's performances are memorable for their truth and dramatic precision.Never before has a movie explored these hidden terrors in such an innovative and poetic way. The Demons is the re-invention of storytelling needed for a subject hardly ever explored. While the public might be more aware of other Quebecois filmmakers such as the illustrious Denys Arcand (Golden Globe nominee and Academy Awards winner for The Barbarian Invasions) or the young newcomer but already famous Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother, Mommy, It’s Only The End of the World), this narrative feature debut from Lesage demonstrates the arrival of a brand new talent from Quebec and one to follow closely.