The title of Claire Denis recent film takes on a literal and figurative dimension. There is an actual fence bordering on a distant, dust -covered construction site. On the one hand is Alboury (Isaach de Bankolé), a local villagers who demand the body by his dead brother who is alleged to be killed in a workplace accident, and on the other is Horn (Matt Dillon), the exhausted foreman who tries to hinder his request when he juggles his girlfriend’s arrival in the city and the early construction manager. But as is expected of this deliberate metaphorical work, there are other invisible fences played: those between guilt and innocence, colonialism and submission, strength and fear. They all collapse after the end of the film, as expected.
Adapted from the play “Black Batts with Dogs” by Bernard-Marie Koltès, Denis-Alongside “Stars at Noon” Co-Writer Andrew Litvack and Suzanne Lindon, Daughter of Two-Time Denis Collaborator Vincent Lindon-Largely Embraces the Source Materials The Source Expressionistic flourishes, such as a photorealistic cgi nightmare of a dog tearing through human meat or warm colors that contrast with shady spaces. Much of the action takes place at the border with the site, with the stormy weather that covers the emotional space that opens between an avoidant middle manager and a principle victim. Denis fills the space with desire and horror until they almost become interchangeable.
Alboury’s refusal to compromise with its simple request masks under the skin of the horn, which rapidly realizes the restrictions on condescending faux diplomacy and Western negotiation tactics, especially when placed against someone who is permeated by the oppression. At the same time, Cal (Tom Blyth), the boss, falls apart under the importance of his actions; At one point he sings with him to the midnight oil’s “beds” in his car (“How can we dance when our earth turns? / How can we sleep when our beds burn?” Goes the choir) to communicate their emotional state. (It is one of two on-the-psychological-nose soundtrack joints in ”The fence“The other involves Kylie Minoges” Can’t Get You Out of My Head. “) Blyth’s impatient body language and Sneering Delivery receives a workout when he has the task of having rented to Horn’s girlfriend Leonie (Mia McKenna-Bruce) from the airport. Attraction against her becomes threatening when he resists to become the third wheel in Leone and Horn’s relationship, especially considering the strong possibility that Horn will sell him to Horn to sell him to the albuma.
Brooding Sensuality Courses through the atmosphere in “The Fence”, which partly compensates for the film’s stilid stalls and clumsy, dissertation underline dialogue. . Shadows, or Horn and Cal Facing Off Like Lions, with their Blocking Determined by their fluctuating Moral Righteousness. Hypochrisy and Turpitude run through the post -colonial soil as oil, and it finally blasted through the surface where horn and cal, which ironically work in building projects over the ground, incorrectly believed it was safe.
Probably the role of their character fits in the original game, the bank oil becomes much less to do than their white counterparts. (He looks most unhappy in the direction of Dillon.) But his Steely determination makes an impression anyway, especially when Alboury’s only presence begins to be perceived as an aggression. His simple motif – to return his brother to the village – is in sharp contrast to the relatively oblique shared by the other three characters. Is Cal attracted by Leone for sought the status that her validation gives, or is it because she is a threat to his relationship with horns, which can be more than platonic? Leone’s life in Britain was probably uncertain and uncertain, but her impulsive decision to move to a far -reaching, limited area in West Africa with a man she hardly knows suggests deeper instability. Horn’s Company-Man position, which offers relative power but not total authority, intimates as a reason to protect Cal from Alboury’s implied accusations, but a shared secret from their past can also submit his actions.
The film’s performances and script suggest these motifs, but Denis rejects to give a complete picture and prefers that they swirl chaotic within the limitation of the construction site. The enclosed by obstacles and is protected by African guards who shout to each other like a Greek choir, the head office that houses Horn, Cal and his team acts as a vacuum black hole with containers and equipment. Greed and exploitation are run out in a place where society was designed to thrive. Denis emphasizes this idea when Leone, who donates a red dress late in the film, crosses the expansively dark space; Kinematographer Éric Gautier frames her in a chilly wide shot that creates the impression that the area will swallow her entire. While Horn and Cal have become too comfortable to live in their privileged refuge, Leone clarifies its disjunctive place within the surrounding environment just by embracing her role as an eye -catching presence.
McKenna-Bruce’s performance can sometimes feel unprotected in “The Fence”, but it shines when she uses her character’s Nescience to reveal the violent rat in the workplace. Dillon, on the other hand, relying too heavy on a wood, over -indication delivery, especially in the dramatically pointed scenes between him and the bank oil, which generally neutralizes the film’s relative ambiguity. Blyth stands out largely because his character has the most internal conflict, but his vacillation between the protection of the bullying and the dryable wreck generates tonal whiplash as well.
In the end, the deterministic story of “The Fence” turns out to be the film’s regret. At some point, the film eventually goes through the movements until its inevitable squeezed climax, at which time its dramatic deficiencies become difficult to ignore. Deni’s best work has an emotional core that spins into the subconscious, passing simplified explanations and language restrictions and deepens the political or genre framework. The “fence” suffers from the absence of such passion, leaving her structured images, although it is intermittent that affects in a vacuum, without a major impact.
Rating: B-
“The Fence” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025. It is currently seeking US distribution.
Want to keep you updated on IndieWire’s movie Reviews And critical thoughts? Subscribe here To our recently launched newsletter, in review by David Ehrlich, where our main film critic and Head Review’s editor rounds off the best new reviews and streaming choices along with some exclusive Musings – all only available for subscribers.
