One of the major films that changed my life was released at this festival in 1996. It was from a country I’d not seen a film from before, a director I’d never heard of, an actor no one had seen on screen, and I knew nothing about. Throughout, where chapter breaks scored with needle drops from the likes of David Bowie blasted at the Palais, there were standing ovations mid-film. I didn’t know one could do that at the theatre, I didn’t know a film could affect me in that powerful a way, and it remains one of my greatest moments in a movie theatre. The film, of course, was “Breaking the Waves” from Danish director by Lars Von Trier and it introduced the world to the luminous talent Emily Watson.
Decades later, it was a personal pleasure to see her in attendance at the Quinzaine debut of Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer’s devastating “God’s Creatures.” Like with Von Trier’s film this is a story of assault and the effects of small mindedness in another windswept environ, and it again rests heavily on the ability to draw in audiences with the immensely empathetic and powerful performance of its lead actor.
Watson plays Aileen, the manager of a local fish processing plant. She has a new grandchild, and seems at first to be comfortably managing her circumstance. When one of the oystermen is swept away by the tide there’s a surprise during the wake, with her absent son (Paul Mescal) returning from Australia. His absence is never explained, nor the cause of his return, but it sets the stage for the film’s central drama.
Paul seeks to resuscitate some oyster beds, and we see him cutting corners, along with Aileen’s assistance, to make things work. Rules don’t seem to apply to Paul, and the results of the prodigal son’s corner-cutting makes for deeper moral compromises for his mother. When a connection is made with the clear-voiced Sarah (Aisling Franciosi), even darker moments occur, and the quandaries pile up like oyster shells.
While there are few true narrative surprises in the telling, it’s still intoxicating to watch Watson navigate all her character’s emotions on her immensely expressive face. She is truly one of the most remarkable performers to appear on screen, and if “God’s Creatures” does nothing else but remind the world of this fact it can already be considered a triumph.