There is nothing quite like it out there, an element that is by design without ever feeling like it is overstretching. It feels like there are flashes of films like 2009’s District 9 or 2016’s The Fits, though this only just scratches the surface of how much it constantly reinvents itself from scene to scene. Such shifts can often become nightmarish, hitting us with rather unsettling sequences just as quickly as it strikes us with awe in others. It is like a spell being cast on you, drawing you into its ever-shifting world and the characters that populate it.
To try to fully pin it down is itself an almost foolhardy exercise, as it is one of those works that is best seen for yourself to ensure you can get the full experience. Originally conceived as a stage production, Neptune Frost takes on new life on screen just as it takes a stylistic sledgehammer to the constraints of the cinematic form. In doing so, it makes those various constraints almost disappear as it expands into something both far greater in scope and in style. People are intertwined with said technology, using it as a tool of liberation and exploration.
Characters communicate through song and technology that takes on a mesmerizing quality in how they are woven together. It is one of the many ways it breaks down the seemingly strict binaries of gender, consciousness, memory, and time to become more illusive in the most incisive way imaginable. The score, with its use of electronic tones, becomes a way that itself shatters conceptions of what is diegetic and what isn’t, inviting us to reflect on how everything is being blurred. It combines fantastical elements, both in terms of the technology of science fiction and the frequent musical interludes, in a way that is all its own. This is in terms of its visual style, making use of rich reds, beautiful blues, and lush greens, as well as the way the presentation continues to push itself to keep trying new things.
It is a strange experience, though an undeniably gorgeous and distinct one. Instead, it is about the way it washes over you and shatters any previously held notions we have. The description of the plot only offers a baseline interpretation of what is playing out as it is so much more than the literal events as they unfold before us. It is a vibrant work worth seeking out not just for its uniqueness but for how it all comes together so well. The first screening of the film was held back at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival before going to the Toronto International Film Festival, and the most recently Sundance. RELATED: From ‘Blade Runner’ to ‘Westworld’: History of Manufactured Women in Science Fiction