NOCTURAMA World Cinema

Bertrand Bonello returns to AFI FEST with his latest film, which follows a pack of Parisian teenagers from different backgrounds over the course of one day as they carry out a series of planned attacks throughout the city. Once their plans have been set in motion, they meet at a department store to wait out the night. Inspired by the current climate of political disillusionment and frustration felt by youth worldwide, Bonello focuses not on the why of his protagonists’ actions, but instead on how a group of kids could execute such a plan, and what happens once it is over. Bonello, along with his director of photography Léo Hinstin, carefully arranges the mise-en-scène and divides the film into two parts, with the before and after colliding in a beautifully constructed film about an uncomfortable topic. NOCTURAMA serves as a warning of what society has taught our children. — Jenn Murphy