In Shudder’s newest holiday horror release, Patrick Ridremont puts a Yuletide spin on the classic Faustian bargain with The Advent Calendar (Le Calendrier). Ridremont directed and wrote this new French horror film, which stars Eugénie Derouand, Honorine Magnier, and Clément Olivieri.
In The Advent Calendar, Eva (Derouand) struggles with her everyday life after a horrible accident has left her as a paraplegic. Eva’s friend Sophie (Magnier) gifts her a homemade wooden advent calendar she picked up at a Munich market to cheer her up on her birthday. The advent calendar has three rules: Eat all of the candy or you’ll die, follow all of the instructions or you’ll die, and don’t get rid of it or you’ll die.
In true Monkey’s Paw fashion, the advent calendar improves Eva’s life with each day’s piece of candy. Eva is given the chance to speak to her sick father again, more money, a new romance, and even the chance to walk again. Still, it all comes with a price to satisfy the entity living within the calendar, and Eva must decide which prices are worth the payment.
For someone who has seen the monkey’s paw routine done seemingly thousands of times at this point, I was pretty impressed with the way the subject matter worked around it. The story definitely felt like it was in the same wheelhouse as Kôji Suzuki’s Ringu or Richard Matheson’s The Box.
A lot of my enjoyment came from the distinctive and creepy art design of the advent calendar itself, which was a collaboration between French sculpting artists Christine Polis, Benoit Polveche, and Thierry Gillet. Maximum effort was put into each tiny door, which displayed unique paintings and clever mechanisms. The prop does wonders for maintaining interest in an over-used theme.
RELATED: ‘Hail to the Deadites’ is Now Streaming on Shudder
The story focuses on the desperation of being hit with a debilitating disability and the prejudices that come with ableism afterward. Eugénie Derouand did a wonderful job portraying those desperate moments of helplessness with sadness and sincerity, making it feel like even the highest of prices of the advent calendar may be worth the trouble. Eva just hasn’t been given a great hand in life and isn’t surrounded by the most supportive people. The film’s setup and sympathy created for the main character were well done. Major kudos there.
Unfortunately, the film sags in the second half. The messages and all-around endgame of the demon within the advent calendar get a bit muddied and convoluted. Things eventually clear themselves up toward the end. Still, continuity seems to take a hit when other people eat pieces of the candy without much consequence to Eva, which breaks the initial rules provided. The second half was disappointing after such a strong opening. The acting performances stayed strong throughout, which helped with a solid finish.
RELATED: Netflix Gives First Look at ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Sequel
I have no complaints about much of the film style or cinematography, as most of it was efficient and smooth. However, the initial shots of the demon were done with what looked like fluorescent and strobe lighting, which took away from the introduction and felt a little cheesy. Luckily, with each piece of candy eaten, the demon grew in power, and we increasingly get a better look as the film continues. Removing the weird lighting was helpful, as the creature was genuinely creepy-looking. A perfect example of less is more.
The Advent Calendar is now streaming on Shudder.
, which puts a Yuletide spin on the classic Faustian bargain.){kind=link}