Writer/director Lorenz Merz’s second feature film, Soul of a Beast, is a genre-bending story that tackles young love, loss and parenthood. In the midst of a hot Switzerland summer, teenage father Gabriel (Pablo Caprez) falls in love with his best friend’s girlfriend and struggles between his desires and his responsibilities raising his young son alone.
Merz drew inspiration from his own experiences of becoming a father at eighteen and suffering the death of his best friend around the same time, sending him on a rollercoaster of paradoxical emotions. Focusing on those inner feelings, Soul of a Beast becomes increasingly surreal throughout the film as Gabriel becomes more entangled in his own emotions and inner turmoil. In part a romantic drama, coming-of-age story and apocalypse tale with Japanese influences, Merz blends genres and uses a mix of languages throughout the film to represent the fantastical whirlwind that is his teenage protagonist’s mind. Swiss-German, French, and English are spoken throughout the film while Yoshi Amao provides poetic voiceover narration in Japanese.
We first encounter Gabriel and Joel (Tonatiuh Radzi) taking part in a daredevil stunt in defiance (or perhaps denial) of their mortality. Joel races along a city street on his motorcycle, towing Gabriel on a skateboard, and they fly through a red light. A car just barely misses them. Gabriel thrives on this teenage freedom, but is forced to confront adulthood when he returns home to look after his toddler son, Jamie (Art Bllaca). With Jamie’s teen mother, Zoé (Luna Wedler) refusing to co-parent and Gabriel’s mother on indefinite vacation, Gabriel somewhat manages to hold down the fort, although he often asks a neighbour (Angelique La Douce) to babysit while he goes out with friends.
Early on, Gabriel meets Joel’s girlfriend, Corey (Ella Rumpf), and their connection is instant. A drug-fuelled night finds the trio breaking into the Zurich zoo and accidentally setting several animals loose, including a giraffe that comes to represent Gabriel’s spirit animal. Gabriel’s feelings for Corey deepen and they spend more time alone together, causing his friendship with Joel to deteriorate violently. Meanwhile, Gabriel is increasingly more frustrated by Zoé’s lack of help or interest in co-parenting. Zoé clearly has some mental health issues, but her wealthy news anchor mother (Lolita Chammah) seems more interested in herself than helping her daughter or grandson. Everything comes to a head when Corey tells Gabriel she’s leaving for Guatemala for a year. As Gabriel’s relationships implode and his feelings become more entangled, the world around him becomes more hectically surreal in turn. The escaped zoo animals wreak havoc around town, causing a widespread curfew and police presence, as well as escalating protests in the streets. Violence erupts and buildings crumble as Gabriel tries to protect his son and hold onto Corey. He is ensnared in a police chase, comes face-to-face with the injured giraffe, and his reality blurs as hallucinatory memories play out in his mind.
Merz plays with cinematography and editing to create a fantastical atmosphere. He uses extreme close-ups to emphasize the connection between Gabriel and Corey, taking advantage of Caprez’s striking green eyes in the process. Sparkling blue water and a lush green forest reflect the bliss of Gabriel and Corey’s summer love in the film’s lighter moments, while the frequent use of red lighting at night accentuates the violence, passion and inner frenzy in Gabriel’s life, particularly as the tension finally erupts. The film is often striking, relying more on feelings conveyed through visual elements than dialogue. Occasionally, the approach feels somewhat clunky in the follow-through; it lacks subtlety, and Jamie is mostly mute, denying the film of a stronger father-son emotional payoff.
Overall, Soul of a Beast takes viewers on a wild ride from simple summer love affair to surreal apocalyptic action. It conveys teenage emotions in flux, compounded by the difficulties of young parenthood as Gabriel struggles with having adulthood thrust upon him while still craving the freedom of youth. Viewers who commit to the experience will enjoy the film and appreciate that the narrative remains open to some interpretation.
The film premiered at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival in the International Cinema section.
Score: B+