Film Review: Mystery Thriller ‘The Soul Eater’

The Soul Eater tells the story of the tragic consequences that can happen when an entire community goes mad.

Two police officers, Franck De Rolan (Paul Hamy) and Elizabeth Guardiano (Virginie Ledoyen), meet by chance on the way to Roquenoir, an isolated town that civilization has seemingly left behind.

De Rolan has been tasked to discover the fate of children who have mysteriously disappeared from the town. Guardiano’s work is even more grim: to investigate the horrific deaths of a couple who lived there with their young son, Evan (Cameron Bain).

At first Guardiano is standoffish and officious, warning De Rolan to keep his hands off her case, but when she sees the condition of the bloodied corpses of the parents and discovers their son hiding in the basement, it makes sense for them to share their information. Evan, glassy-eyed and clearly in a state of shock, can only say that the “Soul Eater” has paid the family a visit. He is transported to a hospital for treatment.

The Soul Eater

Guardiano reads the ancient legend of the Soul Eater at a nearby church. It tells of a horned creature that lives in the woods. If you happen to get a glimpse of it, the legend says, your soul is lost and you become evil incarnate. Meanwhile, De Rolan continues to look for any evidence of the missing children.

As they are drawn deeper and deeper into the case, it becomes even more baffling. So many of the townspeople they meet, including local law enforcement, seem like they’re hiding something. And when Evan suddenly disappears from the hospital, they begin to wonder if the Soul Eater is a real thing.

The film’s directors, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, adopt a slow-burn, languorous approach to the material, which matches the colorless futility of the lost-in-time town of Roquenoir. It’s also effective because it keeps viewers on edge, begging for more clues.

Though it’s not an out-and-out slasher film, it’s still quite gory — especially the deaths of Evan’s parents. After we get lingering views of the butchered bodies at the beginning of the film, the directors take us back about halfway through to watch the killings actually take place!

A compelling blend of police procedural, murder mystery and folk legend, The Soul Eater is compulsive viewing. It is now available on VOD.