Isabelle travels to a nearly abandoned small town of Saint-Étienne with her girlfriend to visit her parents and receives quite a shock when she hears from her mother that her father died a few days ago and has already been buried. Isabelle wants to know why she was not notified of her father’s death sooner, or invited to the funeral. However, she only receives obscure explanations from both her mother and her uncle.

Light is cast on the questionable event by the widely-travelled Dr Hubert who, with his Swedish wife, has allegedly found a mysterious and efficient cure for clients who are suffering from the worst of pains. Isabelle feels and sees that inexplicable metamorphoses are taking place with her mother and her weird and unearthly behaviour may be related to the secret being kept from her.

The genre of body horror, which has again become popular among the broader audiences (good examples include “The Procedure” and “Together”), hereby receives a welcome addition in the form of this mystery in the style of classics H. P. Lovecraft and David Cronenberg, which will make us think of our loved ones whose death we do not want to accept.

Helmut Jänes