Madhukar’s review published on Letterboxd:
Of whispers and silences. Of darkness within and shadows without. Of animalistic rages and animalistic lusts. Of life in pursuit of love and a life in the absence of love. Of damaged bodies and damaged souls.
Philippe Grandrieux's Malgré La Nuit is an examination of all of our worst impulses when we are at out most vulnerable. It is a dark brooding tale of the depths of depravity and perversions we inflict upon our bodies when our minds are lost and confused. It is about our worst mistakes governing our lives and incapability of escaping the ensuing consequences. The most obvious parallels have already been mentioned by others on here, Malick, Noe, and especially Lynch are all big influences of Grandrieux and it shows, but something that struck me in its exploration of bodies was how a few years later in his excruciatingly painful documentary White Noise, Antoine d'Agata has an eerily similar approach of portraying human bodies. I wonder if d'Agata has ever seen a Grandrieux, and if he has how much of it was an influence on his work. I don't think I'll ever forget the enthralling final moments of this film.