Program Note
Detective Guardiano arrives in a small mountain village to investigate the brutal murders of a family. As she delves deeper into the investigation, she uncovers more secrets and suspicions lurking in this seemingly peaceful village. The series of missing children, mysterious plane crashes, and ongoing brutal murders lead Guardiano to a now-closed sanitarium. Directed by the duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, who led the French New Extreme with their debut Inside (2007), their new film The Soul Eater masterfully combines various elements such as folklore, serial killings, supernatural clues, and gore imagery within the framework of a detective narrative, presenting an unexpected storyline. The gloomy atmosphere of the small town on the brink of gentrification and eerie characters harboring secrets amplify the film's unique ambiance and psychological tension as the truths of the incidents begin to unfold. (Jin PARK)