All the Gods in the Sky
Working in a manufacturing plant and caring for his severely disabled younger sister on the decaying family farm where they grew up, Simon Dormel is struggling in every aspect of his life, convinced he has a terminal illness which his doctor refuses to diagnose, his duties curtailed to menial work because his antipsychotic medication does not him allow him to use the heavy machinery, and official concern raised for the wellbeing of Estelle.
Believing since childhood that a change is coming to the world, an intervention, it is to this profound hope of salvation, of delivery from his failing physical form and liberation for Estelle from her vegetative state, that Simon has devoted himself, listening to the radio for hidden messages communicating the coming of his rescuers, crafting crop circles in the fields to signal them, looking up and seeking all the gods in the sky.
Written and directed by Quarxx and expanded from his 2016 short A Perfect Blue Sky (Un ciel bleu presque parfait), where his 2023 film Pandemonium was a downwards trip through Purgatory All the Gods in the Sky (Tous les dieux du ciel) of 2018 strikes a difficult path in the other direction, seeking a way out, however unlikely and naïve that deliverance might be, yet it is equally bleak, dismal and frequently distressing.
Jean-Luc Couchard and Melanie Gaydos resuming their roles of Simon and Estelle, she is the victim of an incident during their childhood for which he is ultimately responsible, his inescapable duty as carer possibly prompted by guilt rather than love and devotion, even though he has tried to blame others, their father for having a gun in the house, even though it was Simon who sought out its hiding place and loaded the bullets, their performances raw and unflinching.
Introduced in the expansion and further complicating matters is young Zoé Debart (Zelie Rixhon), an orphan who stays with Simon’s acquaintance Antoine (Thierry Frémont) whom he says is his niece while she claims they are not related, convinced she is haunted by the ghost of her mother, relaying disappointing messages from the dead and forming a bond with Estelle which antagonises Simon.
Where a better man might recognise the benefit for the burden to be spread, for his sister to experience kindness, it is never clear how much Estelle is aware of, what she thinks, understands or imagines, her brother staring at the sky endlessly while the gods or whoever is there remains as silent as his sister, the wordless judgement of All the Gods in the Sky finding Simon hopelessly derelict in his obligations, seeking answers and brutally forcing them when they are not forthcoming as time runs out.
All the Gods in the Sky will be available on Shudder from Monday 4th August
