LIVID (2011)

With special guests Alix Austin & Keir Siewert

Intro, Math Club, Debate Society, Hot for Teacher (spoiler-free): 00:00-31:13
Honor Roll and Detention (spoiler-heavy): 31:14-1:02:42
Superlatives (spoiler-heavier): 1:02:43-1:26:52

Directors Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury
Screenplay Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo
Featuring Chloé Coulloud, Béatrice Dalle, Catherine Jacob, Jérémy Kapone, Chloé Marcq, Félix Moati, Marie-Claude Pietragalla

Released September 11, 2011 (France)
Budget €2,390,000

SPOILER-FREE SYNOPSIS

We meet Lucie on Halloween morning, at a bus stop by a pier that is festooned with flyers with the names and faces of missing children.  She’s soon picked us by Catherine Wilson, a wisecracking nurse who makes house calls to elderly residents.  Lucie, who is interning for Ms. Wilson, is none too happy about the work, and at the end of her first day, relates her experiences to her friends Will and Ben over beers at the local pub.  Will is a fisherman who works for his father, and Ben works for his mother at the pub.  Like Lucie, the boys aren’t thrilled with the quality of their lives – and so they hatch a plan to break into the home of one of Ms Wilson’s patients, the comatose Ms. Jessel, whose house allegedly contains treasure which will, the kids hope, set them on the paths to prosperity.  There’s just one catch:  Ms. Jessel’s home is not what it seems.  Nor is Ms. Wilson.  And when the residents of the home extend a hearty welcome to the thieving trio, the result is a Halloween night of chaos and spiritual mayhem that changes their lives forever.

SPOILER-FREE GUEST BIOS

Alix Austin and Keir Siewert are co-founders of Switchblade Cinema.

Alix is a British/Swiss Director and Creative Producer with an all-consuming passion for action-fuelled films driven by practical effects & lethal sound design. Her work has screened at festivals including Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Raindance and Brussels International Fantastic Festival. After completing work on leech creature short SUCKER (2022), which released on SHUDDER and ALTER, she directed her first feature film, toxic relationship body horror KILL YOUR LOVER, with creative partner in crime Keir Siewert, which opened the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival in October 2023. Other work includes co-directing the London segment of Horror Anthology Feature ISOLATION (2021) with Siewert, alongside Larry Fessenden (WENDIGO). Alix is a member of Directors UK and was the recipient of the Raimi Productions Scholarship in '23. Recess snack: BabyBel cheese.

Keir is a Scottish and American filmmaker who is partial to making visceral, genre-bending films and a BFI Network X BAFTA Crew 2021 Alum. Writer/Director of award-winning horror short RETCH, which toured over 30 festivals, including London Short Film Festival and the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival; KILL YOUR LOVER (with Alix Austin), which opened the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival in October 2023; MMA short film DUCHESS, and Genera grant winner PORTRAIT. Besides narrative films, he has directed over 100 music videos. You can find more of his work, including music videos, promos and commercials here. Recess snack: Penny candy.

EPISODE NOTES

Music from “Livid” by Raphaël Gesqua.

Why did Professor Louryk choose this film? Find out in our Blog.

Want to hear our episode on another Maury/Bustillo film, Inside? Click here.

What does Keir’s The Thing tattoo look like? See below.

TRAILER

SUPERLATIVES

The Gaspar Noe Award for Most Disturbing Scene
Alix: Ms. Jessel’s face is ripped open
Keir: Initial discovery of Ms. Jessel in bed scene
Eric: Ms. Jessel appears for just a moment behind Ben in the mirror
Bradford: Ms. Jessel’s bed in suffused with blood

The Ellen Ripley Award for Character Who Most Deserves to Live
Alix: The little girl on her bike who is abducted by Ms. Wilson
Keir: The little girl on her bike who is abducted by Ms. Wilson
Eric: Lucie
Bradford: The little girl on her bike who is abducted by Ms. Wilson

The Michael Myers Award for Character Who Most Deserves to Die
Alix: Will
Keir: Will
Eric: Will
Bradford: Will

The Ken Russell Award for Most Baroque Screen Moment
Alix: “The tea party of dreams”
Keir: Ballet school, including Anna’s dancing scenes
Eric: Ben’s death by a thousand cuts
Bradford: The automata tea party scene through the “windup girl attack”

The Brad Dourif Award for Character Who Could (or Should) Have Been Played by Brad Dourif
Alix: Anna
Keir: Ms. Jessel (later clarified, “He should play everyone in this film”)
Eric: Ms. Jessel, at any age
Bradford: Ms. Jessel (the elder)

FINAL LETTER GRADE

Alix: C-
Keir: C
Eric: B-
Bradford: B