Review of The 9th Life of Louis Drax (2016) by Orlando O — 09 Feb 2017

The 9th Life of Louis Drax kind of caught me off guard on what the film was about or what kind of direction and tone it was trying to aim for. Understanding it is based on a book about Louis Drax (Aiden Longworth) on his 9th birthday at a family picnic. He accidently falls off a cliff, hitting the shore in a near death experience that puts him in a coma. Dr. Allan (Jamie Dornan) tries to care for his patient, only trying to understand the accident about the boy's mother Natalie (Sarah Gadon) and her husband Peter (Aaron Paul) who went missing after the accident.

The plot is best not knowing and not giving out any details or spoilers. I liked the idea that it was following on a boy's perspective. Yet, not every pieces of detail is revealed. But slowly pieced together, especially Louis is one estranged kid, who is prone to accidents every year of his life and survived them. Is it all a coincidence that Louis accidents were connected? But the disappointing thing about the direction on the plot, even once the twists are revealed. It was not once satisfying, once the plots mystery pieces are put together in the final act.

Talking about the tone of the film, which was quite all over the place. The film starts out like a fantasy film about a boy's journey through his life and how he was prone to accidents even from the stupid choices of sticking a fork in an electrical outlet. But after Louis falls and goes into a coma, the tone switches to a crime drama with the investigation if it was domestic abuse on his parents struggle with their marriage. Then, a bit of a supernatural thriller with Louis in a coma following some mysterious figure that has been speaking to him about his experiences. Director Alexandre Aja was all over the place with his direction, which makes it look like he wanted to do a fantasy tone in a dark crime drama that turns out to be uneven.

The beginning of the movie seeing Louis in all his accidents looked kind of cheesy. The cast all felt a little flat with their characters. Jamie Dornan, Sarah Gadon, Aaron Paul, and Aiden Longworth all gave dull performances. Now, slightly being disappointed for Alexandre Aja's direction, which his films have been going downhill. From making an intense horror film The Hill Have Eyes remake to a fun campy Piranha movie. His weaknesses seem to be the supernatural films like his last two and this. The film could have used a better balance on tone and direction. Instead, it was delivering mixed signals that it was trying to be a self-discovery fantasy film. The music score also stuck out in a mystery story that did not work.

The 9th Life of Louis Drax seems like a more straight to tv supernatural drama film that's best caught on there, than paying for a rental. Otherwise, it was a boring film that had trouble with its mixed tone, dull acting, and poor direction.