There is much to enjoy with Pandemonium, from the utter bleakness we have been presented with to Quarxx’s ability to thread in dark humour simultaneously. We are left with a film rife with guilt and suffering; you can’t imagine it any other way.
After realising he has died at the scene of a car crash, Nathan (Hugo Dillion) descends into the depths of hell, where he is doomed to experience the pain of tortured souls along the way.
Pandemonium is a film of four parts; what goes on within the latter three portions of filmmaker Quarxx‘s second feature film is best left vague for you to watch. They continue with the grimness we experience in that opening with Nathan (Hugo Dillion) and Daniel (Arben Bajraktaraj). Quarxx has gone above and beyond to ensure at no point are our hopes raised here. We are pushed face-first into the ground, and he merely adds the odd kick to remind us to stay there.
The film’s opening is what works best, with Dillion and Bajraktaral excelling as they both come to terms with what has happened to them. It’s a section that you could easily enjoy as a feature on its own as the two discuss and try to understand what their new situation means for them. Instead, though, Quarxx has other ideas for his the audience, but damn if that opening doesn’t capture something that should be explored more before they enter the gateways.
As Nathan begins his journey, he encounters a range of bodies on the floor. When touched, he sees what those souls went through before death. In this, we almost get a horror anthology that could easily throw the audience off, but with how engaging both are, Pandemonium gets away with it. The first of these becomes a macabre look at a young girl who is “troubled” and uses her imaginary “monster” friend to take the flack.
The second is as painful a segment as in any anthology pieces seen. Here we have a parent’s worst nightmare, that just when you think it has gotten bad enough, got the characters, decides to gleefully distress you emotionally. Both pieces are completely different, and even how Pandemonium is bookended with Nathan’s story is even more distinct.
Quarxx, much like Caye Casas in his feature The Coffee Table, despite all of the horror and bleak nature of what we are experiencing, there is a horrible (i.e., excellent) streak of dark humour living within Pandemonium. When Nathan sees a car approaching the scene of the accident, like him, you think the person will be a good samaritan or as good as someone can be in such a situation. Instead, we get a moment that catches you off guard and sets the tone for any humour that will cross your path for the rest of the runtime.
The film’s flip into a practical anthology may put off some people, but you should stick it out for it. It can be a bit odd, but thanks to all of the performances, you do find yourself leaning in that little bit to figure out where their story will end. One of the highlights in Pandemonium, though, is Benjamin Leray’s score. At times haunting, it constantly stays around and unsettles you enough.
Pandemonium is one of those films you won’t forget anytime soon, but probably not as a whole. It will be the separate stories that interest you and keep you in your mind.
★★★ 1/2
Pandemonium is out now on ARROW Player and VOD
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