The final film that I screened at this year’s festival was Jaloux, directed by Patrick Demers. The low-budget work was filmed over sixteen days in Northern Quebec without a script; the director began with a storyboard that outlined the action and the small cast refined each scene by reviewing each day’s rushes every evening. Consequently, the cast was invested in the product as much as the financial backers and everyone cared deeply about the final product.
It is unusual for the cast to review their own work during production. Sophie Cadieux, Maxime Denommée, and Benoît Gouin were able to get immediate feedback on their performances and Jaloux benefits tremendously as a result. Multiple perspectives enabled Demers to develop the script in order to create a taunt psychological thriller. Although the story of marital difficulties between Marianne and Thomas is suspenseful, it is also natural and humorous at times. The film flies by and is entirely enjoyable.
So many films throw in a twist ending that the concept has been somewhat clichéd and as predictable as the traditional Hollywood conclusion. According to the Q&A session, the film’s finale was undecided until the end of the filming period. As a result, this particular surprise seems less telegraphed, as if there were a handful of possibilities that remained feasible until the last moment. ***