Morel’s Anapidae (Call Me), released through NQV Media, won’t appeal to all audiences, as it asks us to look beyond the horror and into the very souls of two lost lovers who briefly find peace in each other’s arms. One is ready to heal and move forward, while the other is cocooned by the ‘mourning spider’ that continues to feed on his grief.
C.S. Lewis once said, “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid”. Fear and grief are inextricably linked not just in the gutwrenching power they wield over us but also in the anxiety, uncertainty and terror they can bring. Grief can often feel like it’s consuming you from the inside out, paralysing in its power as the inner you vanishes. That paralysing power sits at the heart of writer-director Mathieu Morel’s creepy forty-three-minute experimental film Anapidae (Call Me).
Mino (Thomas Ducasse) spends his days caring for the dead at a cemetery, his accommodation a garage on site that he has made homely with lamps, second-hand sofas, rugs and drapes. Mino is a young man, full of life, unlike the graves he cares for, and he seems out of place among the dead, apart from a patch of rotting flesh on his chest above his heart, which he covers at all times. He cares for the graves and mourners with love, commitment, and kindness, because he knows how painful loss can be.
One grave in particular holds his attention, the grave of his lover, who was taken far too soon. Someone else visits that grave too, his secret lover’s bereaved wife, Maya (Julie Morel). As they plant flowers together, a spark flickers between the two, both of them lost, uncertain and fearful of the grief that consumes them. But as Maya and Mino find solace in each other’s arms, grief continues to consume Mino from the inside out in the shape of a giant spider that feeds from the flesh around his heart.
Filmed on Super-8, intercut with VHS footage, Anapidae (Call Me) at times carries a similar aesthetic to the work of Mark Jenkin. The footage feels discovered, a relic of the past suddenly brought back into the light long after the events have occurred. The giant spider watches from a distance, waiting for its feeding time, its presence a representation of grief. As Mino lies in bed every night begging his dead lover to “call him” just one more time, the spider waits before injecting its fangs and draining more from his body, ultimately leaving nothing but a husk. Maya is equally battling with grief, but unlike Mino, their shared dead lover wasn’t a secret for Maya, and that has enabled her to let go while Mino attempts to hold on to a love that never bloomed as it could have or should have.
Morel’s film won’t appeal to all audiences, as it asks us to look beyond the horror and into the very souls of two lost lovers who briefly find peace in each other’s arms. One is ready to heal and move forward, while the other is cocooned by the ‘mourning spider’ that continues to feed on his grief. Here, Morel’s experimental Super 8/VHS short film weaves a powerful exploration of fear and grief that is both fascinating and unnerving.
NQV Media will release Anapidae (Call Me) on digital platforms, including Prime Video, on November 7.
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