There’s a new Shudder exclusive just in time for Christmas: 2021’s The Advent Calendar, a Belgian production entirely in French (but with English subtitles). The film stars the improbably lovely Eugénie Derouand as Eva, a paraplegic who—before a terrible automobile accident—was a gifted dancer.
A lot of the recent Shudder exclusives have been rather ho-hum. I viewed one recently—I can’t even remember it’s name now!—that was essentially post-horror: it was only atmospherically creepy, but nothing else about the film provoked scares. Sometimes a horror movie is “scary” in the sense that it poses difficult questions (the way good science-fiction does), or presents some intriguing moral dilemma—or just depicts the terrifying consequences of a society pursuing a certain path. That film didn’t even fit that criteria.
But The Advent Calendar does. It’s not a particularly frightening film, but it presents a classic dilemma: given the ability to improve your life dramatically at an extremely high cost—including sacrificing lives to achieve your goal—do you take the opportunity? It’s a bit like The Monkey’s Paw, as another, less favorable review notes: your wish comes true, but with horrifying unintended consequences.
Despite nearly botching the dilemma—more on that below—the film is compelling, and a fun watch (even if you’re reading subtitles the entire time).
The Portly Politico 