THE STRANGE CASE OF JACKY CAILLOU | ©2023 Dark Sky Pictures

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Thomas Parigi, Edwige Blondiau, Lou Lampros, Jean-Louis Coiulloc’h, Romain Laguna, Georges Isnard, Sivan Garavagno, Jean-Marc Ravera
Writers: Lucas Delangle & Olivier Strauss
Director: Lucas Delangle
Distributor: Dark Star Pictures
Release Date: April 7, 2023 (theatrical); April 11, 2023 (digital)

THE STRANGE CASE OF JACKY CAILLOU plays out as a modern folktale. It is something of a strange case of its own, taking what turns out to be a familiar horror genre and making it something that definitely has supernatural elements and jeopardy, but isn’t really horror.

Thomas “Jacky” Caillou (Thomas Parigi) is a young man who lives with his grandmother Gisele (Edwige Blondiau) in a village in the French Alps.

Jacky’s life is pleasant if relatively aimless; he dabbles in writing music and songs that he feels are too personal to perform for others. In contrast, Gisele is full of purpose. She is a renowned healer who combines religious (Christian) faith with what she refers to as “magnetic” technique.

Jacky finally takes an interest in Gisele’s vocation, and she sets about training him. He starts small, with a fallen bird. Success here prompts Jacky to want to heal people.

At around this time, two things happen. Farmer Bert (Georges Isnard) believes that one of his sheep is depressed. The animal in question is fine, per Gisele, but several others have been killed by a mysterious creature.

Elsa (Lou Lampros), a young woman, is brought by her father Herve (Jean-Louis Coiulloc’h) to be treated by Gisele. Elsa has a baffling patch on her back that regular doctors have not been able to diagnose.

Smitten with Elsa, Jacky particularly wants to help her. But Gisele finds Elsa oddly secretive, and says healing cannot happen without trust.

It’s a little unclear exactly when THE STRANGE CASE OF JACKY CAILLOU is meant to be taking place. Jacky uses a shoebox-sized cassette tape recorder for his music, but his policeman friend Mathieu (Romain Laguna) talks about viral videos.

This doesn’t affect events much. What does is the film’s leisurely pace, and somewhat meandering narrative. This isn’t to say that THE STRANGE CASE OF JACKY CAILLOU director Lucas Delangle and co-writer Olivier Strauss don’t achieve their dramatic objectives, just that what they’re after isn’t common to their subject matter.

Certainly, Delangle has made an extremely pretty film with a very specific palette of muted blues, greens, and pinks. Scenes are artfully composed and yet look naturalistic at the same time.

But it’s unclear what the audience is supposed to know when. Those versed in some genre tropes are going to be way ahead of the characters. (And those with sensitivities on some matters relating to wildlife and animals in general are liable to be exasperated.)

We thoroughly like the pragmatic, plainspoken Gisele, wonderfully played by Blondiau. However, Gisele is not the central figure here. Parigi depicts Jacky’s confusion and deepening grief with conviction, but the role is underwritten, and Elsa is even less defined.

By the time it’s over, THE STRANGE CASE OF JACKY CAILLOU feels more like a tale overheard in a village tavern, picturesque but largely symbolic, than something we experience and are immersed in ourselves.

In French, with English subtitles.

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