The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party is too languorously paced to keep the tension levels high and a ridiculous, biology-defying third-act twist doesn’t help. Still, there’s just enough chills here for anyone who prefers their trauma to come with a rural French flavour.

The Birthday Party is perhaps familiar to a fault, playing with hoary genre conventions effectively (though arguably not transcendent enough to withstand the expectations associated with competing for a major film festival prize). Still, Mysius (co-writing with Laurent Mauvignier) knows how to write compelling characters, and her ability to squeeze new energies from routine ideas through shifting the perspective can be pleasurable to those willing to look past the conventional hook.