Stars: Tobi King Bakare, Steve Oram, Ramona Von Pusch | Written and Directed by Sebastien Blanc
Will, an insecure young man, struggles to adapt to his new life after waking up from a coma. Upon returning home, he must fight his estranged father, Richard, in order to be able to see his seemingly absent mother, and uncover the true consequences of his past actions. Richard, however, is in denial, stuck in the past, and desperate to hold on to what once was – with deadly consequences.
Cerebrum is what many would call a slow burn of a horror film. At first, beyond Will’s visions of his dead mother, there’s nothing really horrific about writer-director Sebastien Blanc’s film. It starts off exploring the relationship between father and son, how the accident affected that relationship, and how the pair’s relationship has changed after not only the change in Will struggling to regain his life after the coma but also how the relationship has changed without Will’s mother around.
For his mother, Amelia, is still in a coma following the accident and that’s something that Will is struggling with. But so is his father Richard (Steve Oram) and more than Will can comprehend. For Cerebrum is not just the exploration of a near-death experience – Will’s accident and waking from a coma; but also an exploration of how far people will go for love. To regain something they feel is now lost… And I’m not talking about Richard and Will’s relationship.
For Cerebrum is more a modern take on the classic Marry Shelley novel Frankenstein (and the stories it later inspired) than its sombre presentation would lead you to believe at first. When that revelation comes though it adds remarkable depth to what has come before – it explains the fractured relationship between Richard and Will; the detached nature of Richard’s behaviour… The accident had more of an effect on Will’s father it seems than anyone could possibly have imagined and scientist that he is, Richard is determined to bring back the status quo of his family, no matter the cost.
It’s a powerful premise and one that audiences can relate to. I just don’t think any of us would take things to the extremes Richard goes to… an extreme that gives the film’s tagline “Death is Not the End” a whole new meaning.
*** 3/5
Signature Entertainment presents Cerebrum on Digital Platforms 3rd July.