Europa Europa Film Festival 2022 Film Review: Earwig
Image courtesy of Europa Europa 2022.
Tucked away in a dimly lit apartment, a man tends to a girl, fitting her with a new set of teeth; teeth made of ice. So begins Earwig, Lucile Hadžihalilović’s English-language debut, a haunting feature that rides the line between fairy tale and Hammer horror film, presented largely in mossy greens, sickly yellows and deep browns.
If you’re wondering where you’ve heard (or more likely, read) Hadžihalilović’s name before, she’s a longtime collaborator and, more recently, spouse of the divisive Gaspar Noé (director of Climax, Enter The Void and Irréversible). Though there is a degree of thematic overlap between their works, Lucile often finds herself in distinctively more surreal narrative territory.
Echoing the psychological horrors of the 50s and 60s such as Eyes Without A Face, as well as a sprinkling of the works of Guillermo del Toro and David Lynch (she even cites Eraserhead as an early influence on her passion for filmmaking), the end result rides the line between dream and nightmare. Earwig has little regard for plot, character development, or even dialogue for that matter, instead crafting a piece of art that invites the viewer to look inward and draw their own conclusions about what exactly this all means, if anything at all.
At 2 hours long, it could do with some trimming to realise its full potential, particularly in the final half hour; though if you’ve already tuned into its distinct sensibilities, you’ll hardly mind at that point. For how devoid of the conventional features of film Earwig is, it’s still incredibly tense, opting to fill the scarcity of plot with a chilly atmosphere and breadcrumb trail of unnerving and surprising moments. It feels as if it’s permanently on the edge of breaking into all out gore, but the few moments of violence are brief spurts. Despite this, the trick never gets old, and I found myself glued to the screen in a way that few films this sparse dare manage, pondering the nightmare logic fuelling the world presented. While you may be surprised to hear the titular insect is completely absent from the film (it’s actually the nickname of Albert, caretaker of Mia), it does embody the creature in another sense.
Earwig is like any insect, leaving your skin crawling more at the thought of it than what is actually physically present, though what is present proves undeniably sickening in its own right. Like the infamous old wives’ tale, it’s a beast that crawls inside your head and lays eggs in your brain.
Earwig is screening at the Europa Europa Film Festival, running from the 4th-27th of February. For tickets and more info check out the festival website here.