Genius Loci (2020)

Genius Loci Review

Genius Loci is a 2020 French animated short film directed by Adrien Merigeau. It’s a weaker Oscar nominee.

One night, Reine, a young loner, sees the urban chaos as a mystical oneness that seems alive, like some sort of guide. This is one of those ambiguous, open-ended movies that did not resolve anything in its run. That bothered me as I wished for a more straightforward ending, but I did like the theme of suffering and loneliness that was explored solidly.

The visual style to it is quite strong and very artistic, and the voice acting is very good. The score and sound are eerie, helping the strange atmosphere in the process. The world building is great, but the movie simply felt overly artsy and slight in plot, which personally bothered me throughout its runtime. Had they developed their characters and plot more, it would have been much better.

Genius Loci looks terrific, but is very thin in characterization and plot. It’s a style over substance, that’s for sure.

My Rating – 3.2